The Nuggets and Clippers gave the NBA world an early bid for potentially the best first-round series. Their Game 1 heavyweight brawl was the only one of the eight first-round matchups to go into overtime. Emotions ran extremely high throughout the entire game. Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy and Nikola Jokic got into a tussle for the ball at one point, spurring former Nugget DeMarcus Cousins to express disappointment in his past teammate’s apparent weakness.
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Denver displayed resilience in their 112-110 Game 1 victory. They were down by as many as 15 points. But the game was anyone’s for the taking with under a minute left. The Clippers had a 96-95 lead with less than 40 seconds to go and possession of the ball.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard turned the ball over in front of his team’s bench. Jokic quickly went to grab the ball to inbound it, but Van Gundy snagged it and wouldn’t release his grasp. Van Gundy held on to the ball to keep Denver from a fast break. The officials eventually broke the two up, but the clip of the interaction went viral on social media.
DeMarcus Cousins formerly played with Jokic and witnessed his strength up close. On FanDuel TV’s recent episode of Run It Back, he shared his dismay toward Jokic for not easily taking the ball from the 63-year-old.
“Is this real?” Cousins contemplated. “I’m kinda upset that Jokic is struggling.”
The Serbian superstar is 6-foot-11 and weighs 284 pounds. Nonetheless, Cousins couldn’t believe that Jokic couldn’t easily take the ball away from Van Gundy, who was sitting down. However, some people seem to forget that Van Gundy has experience in holding a tight grip.
In 1998, the Knicks and Heat squared off for Game 4 of their first-round matchup. Van Gundy was New York’s head coach at the time. In the closing seconds of the game, Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson broke out into a full-blown brawl. As a result, Van Gundy held on to Mourning’s leg for dear life to break it up.
Jeff Van Gundy grabbing Zo’s leg during playoffs was peak Knicks vs Heat rivalry
Backstory: Larry Johnson and Mourning absolutely hated each other on and off court since being teammates with Hornets
— IB THE GAMBLER (@incarceratedbob) April 12, 2020
Regardless, that information didn’t stop Cousins from joking that the three-time MVP is weak. His cohost, Lou Williams, came to Jokic’s defense, pointing out that Head Athletic Trainer Jasen Powell also had his hands on the ball.
“It was four on two,” Williams said. Cousins brought up Jokic’s physical dimensions, to which Williams responded quickly, saying, “Get your pushups in.”
This quick exchange has built up more excitement for Game 2 between the Nuggets and the Clippers, which will take place on Monday, April 21, at 10 PM ET on TNT.
