The LA Clippers dismantled the 2023 NBA Champions Denver Nuggets, at the Intuit Dome in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs first round. The final score was 117-83 in favor of LA. But in a seven-game series tied after the first two games, the end of game three is way too early to ascertain which team looks favorite to win. Especially when the losing team has the MVP frontrunner in Nikola Jokic. But not for NBA legend Charles Barkley.
On the Inside the NBA show, Barkley gave his verdict on the series despite a close 2-1 score so far. He claimed the Clippers are the second-best team in the West and will beat the Nuggets with ease in the rest of the series.
While watching the game highlights with the crew, Barkley repeatedly said, “This series is over.” Following which he also said, “I don’t think Denver is going to win another game”. After the highlights ended, Barkley continued, “I think this series is over, brother, I really do. I told y’all a couple of weeks ago, that’s the second-best team in the West right there.”
Therefore, despite the MVP candidate Nikola Jokic being on the Nuggets’ team, Barkley’s prediction, coming with a fair amount of certainty, is shocking. His lack of faith in what ‘the Joker’ can do is definitely appalling. But his prediction may be coming from a high level of confidence in the fact that two superstars like Harden and Leonard provide a higher threat to the Nuggets’ defense than what Jokic and Murray do to the Clippers’ defense.
Is There Any Merit In Charles Barkley’s Prediction?
Moreover, starters other than the superstars are also a crucial factor in this prediction. On a perfect night for James Harden (20 points) and Kawhi Leonard (21 points) in Game 3, four of the Clippers’ five starters had 19 or more points. Nicolas Batum (12 points) and Derrick Jones Jr. (10 points) also came off the bench and had double-digit scoring. If they remain this consistent on offense, they will present a major problem for the Nuggets to tackle.
Whereas, for the Nuggets, the standout role players who fueled their 2023 NBA championship run, like Michael Porter Jr and Christian Braun, have certainly underperformed so far in the playoffs this season. Porter Jr, who was supposed to be the third option on offense after Jokic and Murray, has scored only 25 points overall in 3 games of this series. In Games 1 and 3 combined, he only had 10 points. While Aaron Gordon is seemingly filling that role when Porter Jr struggles, Porter Jr surely needs to step up if the Nuggets are to have any chance of making a comeback.
Additionally, Christian Braun, who averaged 15.3 points per game in the regular season, has only an 8.3 points per game average in this series. Another crucial player who seems to be underperforming under the pressure of the Playoffs. One more crucial loss for the Nuggets was the firing of Michael Malone just days before the Playoffs began. This clearly shows that the Nuggets are no longer as strong as they were in their championship run.
Before this series began, we predicted that the Clippers would win this series in 7 games. But Barkley believes this series may be over in 5 games. Nonetheless, the common conclusion we can derive is that the Nuggets have a serious problem to resolve if they were to have any chance of winning this series.
While Barkley’s prediction may not stem from his lack of faith in the MVP candidate Jokic, there is certainly merit in what he’s saying about how things look for the Nuggets on paper. Do you think the Nuggets have a chance to beat the Clippers at their home in Game 4? Will they be able to regain the home-court advantage? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
