Nikola Jokic had every right to be M-V-Peeved.
Lu Dort knew exactly what he was doing late Friday night with 8:03 left in regulation of the Nuggets’ loss at Oklahoma City. That collision with Joker? Watch the Thunder guard’s right leg in real time. Then watch in slo-mo. Doesn’t matter.
That’s not a basketball move. It’s a Cobra Kai one.
It’s not a plant. Or a jostle. Or even a trip. It’s a stinking sweep of the Joker’s left leg. The leg connected to Jokic’s left knee.
You know, the one No. 15 accidentally hyperextended in Miami back on Dec. 29.
It’s one thing to play on the edge. To play physically. Thunder players delight in making you earn everything they get. They push. They poke. They prod. They crawl inside your heads and pitch a tent there. They foul so many times that it’s hard for officials to ever administer true justice.
But there’s a difference between dancing on the edge and knifing somebody in the back. There’s a difference between setting a tone, getting a mental edge, and a deliberate cheap shot.
Jokic keeping himself from ripping Dort’s face off — A
Team Grading The Week wants a good, clean hoops game as much as the next stiff. But if we were in Jokic’s shoes, we would have threatened to re-arrange a few of Dort’s teeth, right then and there. The OKC agitator should consider himself lucky that he ran into one of Jokic’s Stone Cold Steve Austin stares and not into one of Jokic’s knuckles.
In fact, the GTW ruffians have to give the Big Honey some props for his relative restraint in the heat of the moment. It was one of those unfortunate incidents in which a star player often retaliates by swinging a justifiable fist. Replays showed that the most threatening thing Jokic did with his arms was try to dislodge himself from the Thunder’s Jaylin Williams.
It was the chippiest moment of a chippy, playoff-ish kind of game. Four techs, two flagrants and one ejection — Dort, for the aforementioned trip, which fit the definition of both “unnecessary” and “excessive,” given the circumstances.
Nuggets’ up-down-up week — C
While we now have a Joker “crazy eyes” meme to play with for the rest of eternity, it was a tough finish to an up-and-down week for Nuggets Nation.
Denver lost at Golden State last Sunday while the Warriors were without Steph Curry, Kristaps Porzingis, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. They ended the week by being outscored 20-14 in overtime at OKC while the Thunder intentionally rested Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the entirety of the extra period. That’s the kind of stuff that can get between your ears. And linger.
Broncos NFLPA grades — A
The NFL lawyered up to keep the annual NFLPA team report cards for franchises from being released publicly, but that didn’t stop reporters from getting copies and publishing the thing, naturally. And if you’re the Broncos, you want those grades on every refrigerator in all 50 states. Especially the fridges that belong to potential free agents.
With the exception of the locker room (‘D’), which is small, cramped and scheduled to be replaced soon, Denver’s player grades were kind to outright effusive.
Head coach Sean Payton received a ‘B’ grade, same as a year ago. Every coordinator received an ‘A’ or A-minus’ grade. GM George Paton received an ‘A.’ Ownership got an ‘A-plus.’
Weight room? ‘A.’ Strength coaches? ‘A.’ Training room? ‘A-minus.’ Team travel? ‘A-minus.’ Home game field? ‘A.’
Pretty good GPA, huh? The kind that tells you that the Broncos are going to have some serious veterans wanting to be a part of The Bo Show.
Summit FC kits — A
The GTW crew has never been praised for its collective fashion sense, granted. We don’t know much about soccer kits — that’s jerseys, to you non-footie fans — but we know what we like.
Green is a tough color to nail. Yet Summit FC’s new primary “Evergreen” kit does it perfectly. Although we’re somewhat partial to the “Snow” secondary kit, which was also revealed last week — especially the way the team’s green/orange/yellow badge, which captures a Front Range sunset, really pops in contrast to the shirt’s white base.
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