NUGGETS POSTCAST: Nuggets THROTTLE Rockets in BIG bounce back win

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The Denver Nuggets bounce back in a big way to handle business at home at ball arena.

They take down the Houston Rockets here on Wednesday night, your final score, 129 to 93.

Have the nuggets turned to corner.

We'll talk about it on tonight's Lockdown Nuggets Postcast.

Let's get into it, folks.

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And audio feed, hope everyone is doing well out there.

I am your host, Anilo Piro, and just a reminder, Ryan Swypa and Matt Moore have not gone

anywhere.

This is our third installment of the season of the Lockdown Nuggets Postcast.

Just started it back up after we got the green light from the powers that be.

So just want to give you guys that reminder that those fellas have not gone anywhere.

You get some additional post game reactionary content from the normal crew.

And I'll be here with you just about after each and every Denver Nuggets game throughout

the course of the regular season.

And of course, into what is hopefully going to be a deep playoff run.

So let's dive into this game here tonight, folks, you can follow me on social media.

At media by AP, it is a big win, a much needed win, a relieving win for this Denver Nuggets

team as they get to their 40th win of the season in our 40 and 26 on the year.

And this win is big for a number of different reasons.

It helps cleanse the tie breaker for the nuggets against the Houston Rockets this season.

I believe if the season would have ended today, right?

This is likely a first or this is likely a playoff matchup rather between these two teams.

That being, of course, the nuggets in the Houston Rockets and there's a couple of different

thoughts.

We'll get into some big picture thoughts about what this means for the team moving forward

in the second portion of the show.

But let's zero in on just the game as a whole here to get us started.

And let's talk about what kind of turned the tide in this game for Denver.

Time to reveal where the game was once or most.

That's the turning point.

A couple of different ways that I think we go here with respect to the turning points.

I think it comes down to overall defensive intensity that we saw in this game.

Again, holding any teams under 100 point for the nuggets is a big win in my book, at

least at this point in the season and really with what this defense has been all season

as well.

But I think it was how they came out of half time and that third quarter, right?

It was a relatively competitive game heading into half time.

But Denver really came out with some focus and awareness.

The offense is always going to take care of itself.

I understand that Denver shot the lights out tonight over 50% from the field and 50%

from three.

You'll love to see that.

The quality of the triple though.

Love to see that.

Jamal Murray, a 30 burger.

Love to see that as well.

But I think it was the defensive intensity and really just the attention and detail that

we saw from Denver defensively and really just in totality coming out of half time.

I mean, for Denver to go out there and outscore Houston 40 to 22 in that third quarter

that essentially put the game to bed.

They also outscore Houston there 36 to 24 in that fourth quarter.

But it just looked like Denver came out with a level of focus that we haven't seen from

them on a consistent base, which is again, I'll kind of get into our big picture thoughts

on what this game might mean and what this win might mean for the nuggets the rest of

the way this season.

But for tonight, it was just a much needed step in the right direction.

I think that's kind of the best way to put it is you needed to see this.

From this Denver Nuggets team now, if I want to play devil's advocate and kind of take

the glass half and glass half empty point of view, and I was saying this all day today

at the radio station, I thought this was an expected win for the Denver Nuggets.

I had a feeling they would come out and play Uber aggressive and be locked in.

And I see we got a comment here.

We needed to win like this 100% Denver needed this game.

There's no such thing as a scheduled win.

Sometimes people want to talk about a scheduled loss.

I really felt confident going into this game tonight that Denver was going to win.

I didn't think they'd win as convincingly as they did.

I thought it might be a little bit tighter, but you also look at Houston being on the

second out of back to back, right?

We all know what that means for NBA teams in this day and age.

And so this just set up for me off the heels of the lost Oklahoma city and how that game

went down, how this season is kind of gone, especially since Jokers came back from injury,

needing something to kind of hang your hat on.

It felt like this would be the type of game where the nuggets would come out and flex

a little bit and show just how dangerous they could be.

And I think that's exactly what we got here tonight in their 129 to 93 victory.

I want to read this quote that Ryan Blackburn tweeted out before the game.

I believe I bookmarked it on Twitter because it's from David Adelman talking just about

this season as a whole, how things have kind of gone down.

I'll try to pull it up for you guys here in a minute as well.

I thought I had a whole month.

I thought I had a bookmark and I don't have it handy here.

But point being here it is.

OK, so David Adelman on Denver status as a contender.

This is from before the game.

The quote is, I'll sit here and say it all day and I'll take all the heat for it.

We have to be patient with the process, even though we're late in the season because

that's where the season is because that's what the season is giving us.

I'm not just going to be irresponsible and say I expect this to just be the best team

in the league right now.

He continues and says, but I do think we have time to be a major problem at the end of the year.

So let's take this quote at face value.

I agree.

I do think the nuggets have an opportunity to be a real problem.

The issue I have with that quote and the issue that I have with the thought about being

a real problem is like, that's the expectation.

It's a championship above season.

It is still a championship or about season in my opinion for this Denver nuggets team

relative to expectation of how this offseason played out and just the expectation heading

into the season as a whole.

There's a reason why you fire Michael moment.

There's a reason why you partway with Calvin boot.

There's a reason why you trade Michael Porter's union for Cam Johnson and Cam Johnson had

himself a night tonight by his standard and respect to what this season has been for him.

So I say all I have to say this.

This is a very good win for this nuggets team, but I need to see more.

So let's take it again at face value.

They needed this win.

It's a big win.

It's a great opportunity.

Try to build some momentum.

They'll get right back after it tomorrow night against San Antonio Spurs and Denver finds

themselves that game in San Antonio tomorrow's the the second of a three and four.

And I'm not going to go out here on a limb and project how that one goes.

But again, this was a game that Denver had to have and they took care of business in

really convincing fashion 129 to 93.

You really can't complain about what you saw from Denver in particular in the second half.

Nicole yogurt to the another triple double.

He finished with the 16 12 and 13 five turnovers for the big fella.

You know, that's been a theme, but he's a plus 27 in the box, plus minus every single

started tonight.

Naturally, the way that the game went is not just a positive in the box, plus minus,

but significantly in the positive.

Jamal Murray, as we mentioned, he was on fire tonight in his 31 minutes played 30 points

from Jamal 11 of 21 from the field, three of four from three, dished out four assists

and grabbed a couple of rebounds, only one turn over tonight from Jamal.

You love to see that nice bounce back game for Christian Brown.

He had 19 points.

You saw him being aggressive hit a few big time three points shots in this game for Denver

as well.

And he played his role to a tee tonight.

That's the Christian Brown that Denver expected to get when they signed into the contract

extension in which he received in the offseason.

Aaron Gordon has 0.22 minutes.

We'll call it an outlier.

And the reason why I'm leaving Cam Johnson last is because we have to have a discussion

about Cam Johnson.

We all know out here in Nuggets Nation, Nuggets fans alike know that Cam Johnson has

been extremely disappointing relative to the expectation that Denver had for him when

they traded him for microportage when they traded for him giving up microportage in

here.

And of course that first round pick for Cam Johnson to go out there and just play a solid

game.

An excellent game by his standard again from what we've seen from in this season.

17 points three of five from three two rebounds, four assists, couple of the steel, couple

blocks, and also just really picking it up on defense as well.

And I think it was somewhere there midway in the third quarter or maybe it was coming

out of halftime.

Cam's talking about what he was asked what's been the difference about the defense tonight

in this and that and he mentioned that it's just been focused and clearly Denver was

extremely dialed in coming out of halftime.

And I think that also really made a difference in this game here tonight again Houston on

the second out of back to back a bit of this expected at least in my opinion.

As you needed to see this from this Denver Nuggets team, we know that this Denver Nuggets

team still has these type of games in them.

The season is not a complete loss cause.

I understand it's been a rollercoaster ride with peaks and valleys and turns and plummets

and highs and lows and all those type of words that you want to throw out there to kind

of describe this season.

But hopefully this is the start of something to come.

Hopefully this is the start of a little momentum boost for this Denver Nuggets team after

being to moralize against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

So you love to see what you saw on the court tonight.

I mean, they Houston no players in 20 plus point territory here tonight.

They held the rant to 11 points and it's 26 minutes, 11 points for Jemari Smith.

I'll be San Goon who's one of the better players and the league only 10 points tonight.

Only two rebounds for San Goon as well.

So I mean, this was this was a very, very, very thorough victory for this Denver Nuggets

team and exactly what you wanted to see off the heels of their most recent game leading

up to this one tonight.

Again, I think the defense, the intensity, everything that you saw, the adjustments from

this team kind of a half time, a breath of fresh air, much needed for the Denver Nuggets

as they take down Houston Rockets here tonight, 129 to 93.

Okay.

Let's hit a quick commercial break.

When we come back, let's continue along with the conversation.

Is this the start of things to blossom for this Denver Nuggets team again, going off

that David Adamin quotes, don't believe they can be dangerous down the stretch.

I agree.

How much weight are we putting into this win tonight from the Denver Nuggets?

We'll talk about that next right here on your locked on Nuggets postcast back in just

moment.

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locked on nuggets sent you all right welcome on back into your locked on nuggets postcast

I am your host Nilo Piro hope everyone is doing well out there in nuggets nation you can follow

me on social media at media by eight feet do me a favor hit that like button smash that subscribe

button if you are watching on YouTube it is a 129 to 93 beat down for the Denver nuggets over

the Houston Rockets now what does this game mean for the nuggets moving forward I was talking about

with some colleagues at work today I've had these thoughts for a long time and you might think I'm

a bit bitter you might think I'm a bit sour and again looking at this game in a micro it is a

tremendous victory the nuggets needed this I'm pumped up about the win I truly am Cam Johnson

with an incredible performance relative to what we've seen from in the season Jamal Murray

30 points Yoke triple double I mean you know you shoot over 50% from the field and from

three point land not a lot to complain about whatsoever with this loss or with this win excuse me

thinking loss because it's still what happened Oklahoma City that third quarter was incredible the

defense of intensity was incredible is it unfair is it unfair for me to say that I need to see this

again and that I need to see this more consistently from this Denver nuggets team I can't go crazy

after one win against the Houston Rockets on the second eye to the back to back now I understand

the implication that this game has big win for Denver with respect to the tie breaking scenario

and Denver and Houston have had a handful in their previous matches of really competitive games

going back to early in the season in November I want to say game of ball arena that I was at

the Denver loss big match up big win love it but again going back to the quote that we talked

about from David Adelman and how he thinks this team can still be dangerous come playoff time I agree

with that but this is truly a championship or bus season for Denver and we've seen what Oklahoma

City's done to them we'll see what they can do tomorrow night against San Antonio again second

out of the back to back now for Denver home in a way what version of this team we're going to get it

is go time right now for this Denver nugget see and what I'm hopeful for when I'm optimistic for

is that this is the start of something special this is the start of the flipping of the switch

this is the start of buying consistently for four quarters on defense if these things all come

together get it up I think Denver's still realistically on paper especially as they continue to get

more and more healthy this could be the start of what you've been hoping for what you've been waiting

for from the second team this season the question is if or is this just a good win and a bad spot for

Houston and a good spot for Denver though these are the questions that will be answered in short order

as we move forward throughout the course of the season and I know that Denver has some pretty easy

games coming up after this little stretch here against the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles

Lakers respectively let's take a look here at this upcoming schedule at San Antonio at Los Angeles

and then you've got a interesting little stretch of games versus Philadelphia we'll see if Joel

and B plays in that game at Memphis home versus Toronto home versus Portland at Phoenix home versus

Dallas home versus Utah before the Warriors come to town on the 29th and it's not like the Warriors

are the same old big bad Warriors that we've seen so I mean you're looking at it after the stretch

of games between San Antonio and Los Angeles I mean the only real tough games that I'm seeing on

the schedule you got Oklahoma City one more time you got San Antonio twice more as well and Golden State

other than that you got Portland who I know so scrappy team Utah a couple of times as well so these next

two games are going to be very interesting for the Denver Nuggets but as it pertains to tonight's

game 1292923 your final score what you saw from this team is what you've been waiting to see

and what you needed to see

be you know live it in the past AP why you keep talking about Oklahoma City because that game

matters the three games against Oklahoma City matter and that lost to Oklahoma City to me

is still sticking with me more than tonight's win against Houston and again it's a very good win

loved what we saw across the board loved it absolutely but it's go time for this Nuggets team it

is go time got one question here sorry if this has been answered but oh he's asking why it's me

and not Matt Moore and Ryan and Swipe is one more time I'll I'll do it on the intro of the show

Matt Swiper and Ryan have not gone anywhere this is just an addition to the channel addition

to the audio feed I'm an elo piro just an instant reaction post game content here on the

lockdown nuggets channel so they haven't gone anywhere you're going to get your same daily dose

of content from them but just some more content out here for nuggets nation so I try to keep it a

bucket of stack man I'm still optimistic about this team I still think they come in a championship

I still think that there's a lot of meat on the bone with this season and I think tonight's

game against the Houston Rockets really just a throttling of the Houston Rockets is exactly what you

wanted to see and it was a good good effort across the board defensively offensively the shooting

role players Christian Brown Cam Johnson making it happen for the Denver Nuggets when you know

that on Juneus a plus seven in his minutes and I 12 points for the big fellow 14 points for

tomorrow's junior four six from three 53% from three point of land as a team and 55% from the field

on top of that defensive intensity you absolutely love to see it all right that is going to do it

for me folks we back up again tomorrow night against the as the nuggets you're ready to take on

the San Antonio Spurs interesting spot for them second item back to back travel spot all

that kind of stuff as well after the late game here tonight we'll see how Denver responds but

until then enjoy this victory soak it in take a deep breath so I'm going to be okay plenty of

basketball left to be played as Denver tries to round it into form ahead of the NBA postseason thanks

for watching guys talk to you guys by Yana hey everyone this is Ross Jackson one of the hosts

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