Charles Barkley believes the Denver Nuggets were hurt by the NBA’s scheduling of their second-round games against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On Sunday, the Nuggets and Thunder faced off for Game 4 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. The contest tipped off at 3:30 E.T., which was just around 40 hours after the Nuggets’ Game 3 overtime win.
Barkley called the tight scheduling “unfair” to the Nuggets, given that the Thunder have the superior depth between the two teams.
“I thought what the NBA did [to the Nuggets] was unfair,” Barkley said. “Making them play late Friday night, then an early afternoon, I thought that was unfair. I truly believe that.
Smith interjected, stating that the Thunder had to face the same adversity.
“[The Thunder] have more depth. … I don’t think it’s fair to blame everything on the Joker. He has not played well, and I think he’s wearing down.”
Jokic indeed looked worn down in Game 3, when he shot just 8/25 from the floor. The two-time MVP also missed all 10 of his attempts from beyond the arc. Luckily for Jokic, his Nuggets teammates stepped up to take the OT win.
The Serbian center did not look that much better in Game 4. Jokic still tallied 27 points and 13 rebounds but had a 7/22 shooting clip in the 92-87 Thunder win.
But as Smith told Barkley, it’s hard to fault the Thunder for having a deeper rotation. Nine different OKC players played at least 13 minutes in Game 4. On the other hand, Denver relied heavily on a six-man rotation with Russell Westbrook playing big minutes off the bench. On Sunday, the Thunder’s bench outscored the Nuggets’ reserves 35-8.
Denver’s lack of quality depth off the bench was a big reason why the Nuggets cleaned house a week before the postseason.
