I’m looking for Kawhi to come out strong and set this tone.

We are due for our hot 50% from 3 game, can we do it on the road? Bogi hasn’t had a turn yet, that sure would be nice to get it tomorrow.

Adelman made it sound like they have counters for our Batum lineup defensively. Not sure what that is, they are going to have to live with someone getting the shot. Either way, just hope the officials don’t get involved for either side. Adelman incited the fans and they’re going to be all over the refs if they feel like they’re not getting calls. I actually really like that our team isn’t like those lob city teams that constantly talk to the officials, but Denver will be trying to get those calls.

Russ- The thing with Russ is we still need to be strategic in when we leave him. Don’t give him open shots in non Jokic lineups. That killed us in game 5. You want Russ to shoot when he’s taking possessions away from Jokic, but they’ll take those odds when Jokic is sitting to try to get lucky while he’s resting. I really think they have no option but to play Russ so we do have to take him seriously. I don’t think Porter can play much without Dunn being in the game, but maybe his shoulder gets the shot and is much better tomorrow. I really wish I could see a blow out happening for the Clippers, but so hard to do with Jokic’s ability to generate so many quality shots. As much as I think we have the upper hand, I hate being in close games against these guys. Things just seem to break their way in close games.

Would be surprised if Ben plays, maybe if Zu picks up fouls but I expect Nico to pick up the extra minutes.

Obv Lue’s got his main card to play which will be Batum. Dunn and Simmons probably are done for the series though I might consider Simmons for just a couple minutes to try to wear Joker down a bit while keeping Zu fresher. Batum gives us defensive flexibility, will just need to keep an eye on how loose Murray gets. I didn’t like Kawhi on Murray and maybe it’s not realistic to expect him to take that assignment and be aggressive on defense. He’s fine on a switch, but if he guards Murray he’s just not as good on screens as DJ or Dunn, which gives Murray the space he wants.

Without Dunn I don’t think Denver can get away with much Porter though. He is compromised, which is making his already bad defense even worse. With Dunn on the floor he was allowed to roam and it turned his defensive liability into a positive for them. So I think for us it’s managing the rotations between DJ and Batum guarding Murray while having Batum on Gordon some. I think we’ll have Harden on Gordon at times too. Denver is lobbying for more foul calls so just need to avoid Zu being the one in foul trouble, hopefully they don’t put their imprint on the game by doing something like that. Denver’s edge though will be their familiarity in the altitude. Our guys have looked more winded than theirs playing there.