After Joker I thought Keegan Murray had the most impact in the game. From the get-go he impacted both the defensive and offensive end of the floor. He's a very good player to build upon if and when Perry gets around to it. I still want the coaches to run him around some screens for some shot attempts, but that will probably happen in the afterlife.
Westbrook and DDR were blasts from the past. Not playing as much in the prior game probably helped them deal with some creaky joints.
When Max was battling Jokic in the first quarter I was thinking he probably would rather be back at Stanford inside a particle accelerator than deal with this monster. Despite being over-matched at center he fought as hard as he could to keep his position. His clapping for his teammates and his smile was endearing. The one negative that I saw with Max was when he had an open 3 pointer, hesitated, then missed by a mile. We saw him in summer league shoot the 3 pointer with impunity and hit them for the most part. Now all of a sudden he hesitates. I pray that the coaching staff isn't ruining his confidence on his outside shot. The last thing I want for this kid is to start thinking of himself as just a big who only plays in the paint.
Clifford I thought got a couple of raw deals on calls where he was going for rebounds, more like rookie calls. As far as I am concerned, he can continue with that physicality in every game he plays. He made a wonderful interior touch pass in the second half. For God's sake, you blind morons, give him the ball more! I continue to think both rookies are going to be assets to this team's future with the proper coaching and complementary players around them.
