Few people expected we’d be at this point this soon, if they even thought we’d be here at all.
The Nuggets are facing elimination in the fifth game of their series versus the Warriors -- a series many had them winning at the outset, with even more jumping on the bandwagon after David Lee was injured in game one.
But since that loss in the first game, momentum is clearly on the Warriors’ side with head coach Mark Jackson making all the right moves while George Karl struggles to find answers to counter them. And really, adjustments are what this series is all about now. Can George Karl find the right lineups and implement the proper tweaks to his team’s approach to get a win?
With everything on the line, Karl has no choice but to try every trick in his bag to try and get this series back to Oakland. Maybe that means Andre Iguodala guarding Stephen Curry for every minute that Curry plays. Maybe it means playing Andre Miller less with Ty Lawson and going with Corey Brewer at shooting guard more often. Maybe it means playing JaVale McGee more than his usual amount of minutes to give the Nuggets a shot blocking presence and athleticism they lack when he’s on the bench.
Whatever he tries, however, it needs to be different than what he’s been doing because it’s clear those tactics aren’t working.
On the Warriors’ side, the approach is simple: just keep giving the ball to Curry and letting him create until the Nuggets figure out a way to stop it. Curry has proven to be the series’ best player by a wide margin and his combination of shooting, ball handling, and play making has turned the Warrior offense into an unstoppable force.
Defensively, they need to continue to rely on Andrew Bogut to anchor the back line while using their wings to pressure ball handlers into that murky mid-range area where they’ve proven to be less effective. This combination of wing pressure and Bogut protecting the basket has given the Nuggets fits in the half-court while their choice to get back in transition rather than chase offensive rebounds has forced Denver into a more controlled style.
The Nuggets can’t win that way and they know it. They want to try and do it’s create a chaos all over the floor in order to overwhelm their opponent.
Maybe with the increased stakes and playing on their home floor they’ll be able to manufacture the energy needed to turn up the tempo. If they can pressure the Warriors’ ball handlers and create some turnovers, it would go a long way towards getting this win. It would also help if they could get out to a fast start to build some momentum, get the crowd behind them, and then ride that wave of emotion.
Needless to say, the Nuggets need something to go their way after the way the last three games have unfolded. If they can’t turn it around tonight, they’ll have a long time to think on how they let it all slip away after one of their most successful regular seasons ever.