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On the decisive possession in Game 2, Mason Plumlee made a mistake by letting Anthony Davis’s score go to LeBron James, without Jerami Grant understanding his intentions by switching on the throw-in. A “miscommunication” also admitted by Nikola Jokic, who couldn’t defy AD’s shot: “As soon as he released her, I knew he would go in”
me Denver nuggets they really went so far from concluding another epic comeback. Trailing 16 points behind in the third quarter, coach Mike Malone’s team managed to get back into the game even before the last fraction began, also putting the advances in the opening of the fourth quarter. But then the Lakers defense, a pair of 3s from Rondo and Caldwell-Pope and a splendid step-back 3 from Anthony Davis sent them back to -8 to 3 minutes from the end, a handicap that once again seemed insurmountable. Nikola Jokic however, as always, he raised the bar on his game just in time of need, scoring 11 points in the last 2:42 of play including two overtaking baskets at 31 and 20.8 seconds remaining, first deflecting a Jamal Murray error on the fly, then imposing his superior physical size on Davis to hook 103-102. The Nuggets had also managed to survive a full open triple by Alex Caruso, with Murray shaking. stop Danny Green’s attempt after the offensive rebound. But that feat represented him the beginning of the end of denver.
The decisive changes: Rondo for the throw-in, Plumlee for Millsap
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Anthony Davis rescued the Lakers, Denver in the second round
Murray actually sent the ball directly in the background, leaving 2.1 seconds for the Lakers to take the last shot. Coach Frank Vogel has come in smartly Rajon Rondo for the throw-in (who couldn’t tie due to no timeout available), while coach Malone decided to trade the brand to Anthony Davis, remove Paul Millsap and insert Mason Plumlee. The idea was to avoid a possible balloon towards the basket for AD, who has a clear centimeter advantage over Millsap, but the versatility of the Lakers’ long shot had not been considered, capable of scoring a triple from the middle angle just minutes before attacking as soon as he had the opportunity .
Mistakes in the Mason Plumlee series
Plumlee engaged a series of errors one followed the other. First he left too much space in AD even before the throw-in, which allows you to go out undisturbed to get the ball. It must be assumed that Coach Malone’s idea was to switch in all blocks, as there were 2 seconds to go, but Plumlee took the cue too literally: seeing himself already too far away from Davis, who was now gone, Duke’s length was to mark LeBron James – who, however, had not even remotely thought of blocking him, hoping to receive the ball on the elbow. Plumlee tried to yell at Jerami Grant to change the brand.But the Nuggets No. 9 didn’t react because he was too worried about James; In any case, Plumlee would have been wrong even if there had been the change, since LeBron would have had the area completely open for a basket that approaches without being able to stop it. It is not not even the first time Plumlee fails in certain situations: Even in the seeded games he remained “in no man’s land” allowing Kyle Kuzma to score the triple win.
Jokic: “I was right there to challenge him, there was a lack of communication”
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Davis dials the siren and yells “KOBE” VIDEO
Instead, Davis came to dispute Jokic, who had been in charge of disrupting Rajon Rondo’s throw-in (forced to pass the ball hitting the ground only to dodge the Serb’s arms). Despite a more than competent defense to make life difficult for DavisHowever, Jokic couldn’t do anything but watch the ball go into the basket: “We knew I would shoot him or LeBron, there was just a little miscommunication”Said the All-Star after a game of 30 points and 9 assists. “I honestly think I argued well, It was right there. But as soon as he pulled, you could see that it had come out right. I immediately had the feeling that I was entering. But great players make great shots. ”
Malone’s words: “They needed a big shot”
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Reactions to Davis’s expiration trick
After the match Coach Malone did not explain his decision in detail to insert Plumlee for Millsap: “Losing sucks, this is the truth. Some like to win, others hate to lose. We are among those who hate to lose. But whether it’s 20 like race 1 or the siren like tonight, one still counts. The only thing we can talk about today is that we were in the game until the end. They needed a great shot from a great player to beat us. But as long as we put ourselves in a position to win, we can’t ask for anything more. What I know about this group is that even though we are disappointed, frustrated and angry, we will use all of this as motivation to go and get race 3 “.
