The Denver Nuggets squeezed into the second round in exciting fashion. After going toe-to-toe with the Utah Jazz, and coming back from down 3-1, there’s no denying that Denver earned their place in the current playoff picture.
But nobody is giving them much of a chance against the Clippers. Despite all the talent the Nuggets have, their depth and star power just doesn’t match up to what L.A. has built this past year.
In Game 1’s brutal blowout loss, that truth was only emphasized further, and it seems faith in Denver is all but nonexistent for most of the NBA community. In fact, on TNT Overtime, Charles Barkley said they have “no shot at all” to win the series.
EJ: “Tell me how Denver succeeds this series.”
Barkley: “They got no chance in this series. They’re not gonna beat the Clippers. No chance, they’re not good enough defensively. And they’re (the Clippers) aren’t gonna let Jamal Murray go for 50, 40, 50.”
Charles Barkley is giving the Nuggets no chance whatsoever to beat the Clippers 😂pic.twitter.com/yZnIE9xe7O
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 4, 2020
We have to assume the Nuggets will make some adjustments after this game and we can expect both Murray and Jokic to play better. They scored just a combined 27 points on the game.
It certainly doesn’t look good for the Nuggets. They looked outmatched and overpowered for most of the night.
But after just one game, it’s not wise to count them out yet. After all, this is the same team that just came back to win a series after falling into a 1-3 hole.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how they respond.
