![]() We say this because our staff of hoops scribes recently surveyed 108 current players - nearly one-quarter of the league - for The Athletic’s 2023 NBA Player Poll and asked them to name this season’s MVP. The 2022-23 NBA MVP race may produce one of the closest votes in league history.īut if players chose the award winner instead of the media, it would be a landslide.Įmbiid, the 76ers’ big man who has been second in MVP voting the past two seasons, would win hands down. Giannis Antetokounmpo? Joel Embiid? Or Nikola Jokić? I told them to celebrate Game 1 for a few minutes, and then let’s go ahead and get ready for Game 2.” We want to identify the areas where we can be better. That’s what film was about and what practice was about (Tuesday) morning. There are a lot of things that we could have done better in Game 1. “We’re trying to win a championship, and if we are going to do that, we have 15 more games to win. “I made sure to tell the guys that we haven’t done a damn thing,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. Most importantly, they know a win in the postseason is just that - a single, solitary victory that adds a piece to the puzzle but doesn’t come close to solving it. The Nuggets know the Timberwolves almost can’t play worse than they did in Game 1. In short, Denver knows it will face a desperate Minnesota team Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Instead, as Tuesday morning’s practice can attest, the hairs on the back of their necks couldn’t be more at attention if the Nuggets lost that game by 30. You would think a 109-80 Game 1 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday would put the Denver Nuggets in a comfortable space. The combination of the simultaneous sprint and marathon of the playoffs takes over. Each practice and film session takes on a life of its own. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bucks need to consider defensively against the Heat’s two best players.ĭENVER - Once a team gets into a playoff setting, each possession, each quarter and each game becomes a challenge. The Bucks just didn’t perform well enough defensively in Game 1. And the Heat made 15 of their 25 3-point attempts. Bam Adebayo added 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Jimmy Butler put up 35 points, five rebounds and 11 assists. In Game 1, they fell well short of their standards defensively, giving up the aforementioned 130 points to one of the league’s worst offensive teams in the regular season. Since Mike Budenholzer has arrived in Milwaukee, the Bucks have prided themselves on defense and largely lived up to high expectations on that end. ![]() With the caliber of defensive players that we have, I think we have to clean that side up.” “One hundred-thirty points in a playoff game, I think that’s entirely too much. “I would say defense,” Crowder replied, when asked what the Bucks need to focus on most heading into Game 2 on Wednesday. MILWAUKEE - It didn’t take Bucks forward Jae Crowder long to figure out his answer to the question following Tuesday’s practice. ![]()
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