last year, but the conditioning wasn't there this year. Jokic faded late in the game and kept launching 3s. That wasn't a problem last year. The lack of bench production has been a big problem all year, but most thought the starting 5 would just step up and play extra minutes like they did last year.

Was MN's defense and length too much, yeah pretty much. Seeing this offense have multiple long streaks without scoring wasn't something I've seen for a few years with this team. I honestly have to give MN a ton of credit for what they are able to do with that defense. Gobert gets a ton of flack, but he basically shut down anything Murray, MPJ, KCP, or Gordon usually get in the paint. As soon as Jokic wasn't able to pull down boards at a ridiculous rate, the game got away from them.

In hindsight, the loss to the Spurs at the end of the season was a big warning sign. It looked a lot like the game tonight. Murray never really got back to where we needed him. He had some great moments this playoffs, but he lost us a few games for sure.

I doubt everyone agrees with this, but I hope the Nuggets mostly just run it back next year and try to get some more help from the bench. They need to start addressing the non-Jokic minutes instead of counting on him to play all quarters. I still believe in this core group.