Nikola Jokic tasked with spacing the floor and punishing Rudy Gobert for playing drop coverage defensively, Jokic shot the lights out. This was his moment to put a stamp on the series and did he. I don’t understand Denver shrinking to the nail so much when Ingles has the ball on the left wing. Is he beating his man middle to his weak hand? And they have gotten repeatedly beat by straight-line drives when Ingles swings it to the opposite wing over the course of the series. Actually, it is do to who is guarding Ingles - Jamal Murray. Murray has to do a better job defensively. He can't give up a middle drive so easily. Jokic going off, but I think Utah turning him into a scorer is a bit to their advantage. This takes away from his threat as a set up man for his teammates. 2 different times MPJ gave up too much room on the hedge against Mitchell who splits it. DEN are finally being aggressive in PnR coverage and trapping the ball handler. What a special 3Q from Jamal Murray! Donovan Mitchell vs. Jamal Murray matchup this series has been some of the purest, most surgical play & shot-making i've seen in a while during a single series. It has to make Denver feel much better for when his max contract discussion comes up. Salute to Michael Porter Jr. His defense hasn’t been perfect but it’s been solid here lately as far as what Utah has been trying to accomplish in the PnR. Credit Mike Malone for making an adjustment by having MPJ drop, but stay with Mitchell. Overall, he looked better as he was rotating to the correct spots and not getting caught out of position. Important because DEN needs him on the floor. They are a plus 25 with Murray/MPJ/Jokic on the floor together. Grant was solid against Mitchell. Not perfect, but rather than getting bumped off by a screen consistently, Grant stayed close to Mitchell & forced him into tougher shots than all series.

LAC are really trying to exploit DAL size. Pushing everything at the rim. They're still not closing out on shooters. LAC are showing a soft press to get the ball out of Doncic’s hands early in the shot clock. It will be important for the supporting cast to be ready to shoot. As TNT shows the stats about Doncic drives, he is doing that exact thing to start the game and is continuing to have success. Kawhi does such a great job of getting to his spots in the mid range and scoring. I’m a fan of what PG has done to start this game in being aggressive downhill. This game has taken a turn for the worse as LAC are on a 24-2 run. Maybe LA heard my last episode as they are trapping Luka off of ball screens. This is an important adjustment as the switching has not worked so far. Let’s see if DAL will take advantage of Harrell on Boban; he has scored at will against him. Dallas has to find ways to create tempo and space in the half court to get back in this game. We are now seeing PG get back into rhythm. But the ball is starting to stick for Clippers on offense. The one thing that surprised me in this series is how much the Clippers have struggled vs. Mavs’ reserves. In the previous game, Doc let his team play through the slump but tonight he calls a TO and they go on another run. You can really tell how much the ankle is bothering Luka tonight. One thing that is so impressive is how well he find space especially with the size he possess. This is the PG of IND when he is hitting shots like he did tonight. These become 2nd nature to him when he has his rhythm, when an offense flows through him, when he is attacking and leading. DAL needs Porzingis in that lineup. Unless Luka goes off they can't keep up.

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