They out-rebounded L.A., 44-25. They outworked them. They held the Lakers to 6-of-23 shooting from deep. They looked more battle-tested and harder– consisting of Jamal Murrays Flagrant One on his chin shot to LeBron, a low-cost shot, possibly, but one that set a tone for the game the Lakers matched only late, when it was far too late..
Denver was more focused, they were better, and as a result, theyre best in this thing.
Its a single night of basketball, yes. Its one video game, sure, against a star in LeBron who has never lost a series after increasing 2-0 and who feasts on the next expected LeBron-slayer. Its likewise a sign: The Nuggets may not– well see– be great enough to beat the Lakers this year in a seven-game series. But they are difficult enough. They believe theyre excellent enough. And thats something you can construct on. It suggests, someday, theyre most likely to be.
The Denver Nuggets lack the video games best gamer, its best duo, its highest expectations, its most pedigreed history– that comes from 2 of the other 3 staying playoff groups– nor its finest chances to finish off this fantastic postseason run with a champion.
However they are its most difficult team, psychologically and in the minutes that define achievement. And how far that can still take them stays quite in play.
Thats a truth after the Nuggets win Tuesday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, one in which the underdog warded off a fourth quarter Lakers surge to protect a 114-106 victory and draw their series to down just 2-1. It was a night that informed the tale of their whole offseason.
They might seem outmatched, outplayed, and down in a series in which no one outside Denver provides them a chance. Those back-to-back 3-1 series deficits this young team removed against the Jazz and the Clippers in the 2nd and first rounds of these playoffs werent anomalies.
Denver was blown out in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series against the Jazz, and in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series versus the Clippers. It turns out, those controling games to go up, or lead to, a 2-0 series lead over the Nuggets let to an entire lot of hollow certainty about the Nuggets.
Denver was likewise that A.D. buzzer beater in Game 2 far from triumph, significance, outside that Game 1 blowout, theyve shown they can beat L.A. twice, even if they only came away with one win.
Denver is tough. They are resistant. They believe..
And after Tuesday, the notion theyre just not excellent enough to beat this Lakers group has yet to be extinguished.
Thats an indication of fantastic things to come in Denver, whether this year or not until the years ahead. You cant teach perseverance late in games, heartbreak after heartbreak, or the hard-earned muscle memory of winning series after series, huge video game after huge game.
Ask the Rockets. Ask the Clippers. The graveyard of this and other seasons for promising groups is filled with stars and prospective champs who couldnt match the heart– or grace– of this until-recently under-heralded, young Denver Nuggets team.
Jamal Murray put up 28 points, consisting of a fourth-quarter dagger of a drifting step-back 3-pointer over Anthony Daivs, and dispensed 12 helps, consisting of an essential cent to Paul Millsap over that exact same late-game period. It was classic playoff achievement for a gamer still at the start of what hell be in this league..
And this win, this halving of the series, was a various sort of victory. The conference finals feel different. Theres an energy to it, and a worry that can embed in. Playing LeBron is various. A.D. is different. And pulling yourself up because circumstance against those guys after that heartbreaker of a buzzer-beating loss in Game 2 takes real Moxy, genuine strength, real guts.
There are two ways to look at what will follow now in this series.
The very first is that of the Denver fan, optimist, or follower, and goes something like this: After the Dwight-Howard-owns-Jokic illusion in Game 1, the Lakers, like everybody else, have their hands full with the huge man. Anthony Davis disappeared in this video game, his 27 points regardless of, with his paltry two rebounds and at-time passive play. The Lakers had no help for their super stars, outside Rajon Rondo, who, remarkable though he has been, will not suffice. Murray is unfazed, clearly, and can be counted on with the weight of a season pushing down on his shoulders. And a win in Game 4 indicates the Nuggets confidence coming off all theyve achieved this offseason could waterfall and power them forward the remainder of the way.
The Lakers-surely-win worldview can be boiled down to something like this: LeBron James.
Nikola Jokic had 22 and 10, gutting out another difficult and excellent video game as Denver developed, and then almost lost, a 20-point lead, just days after the talk was how Dwight Howard owned him, and hence his team. That, too, has actually ended up being silliness put aside, another marker to not seeing Denver or its stars for what they are: Legit.
And guys like Jerami Grant (a career-high 26 points), Millsap (energy and management) and Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris (bench points and rebounding) stepped up to help their 2 rising superstars.
The totality of all of this was a Denver team that wanted it more than the Lakers, which took it to them and from them.
Its one game, sure, against a star in LeBron who has never ever lost a series after going up 2-0 and who feasts on the next supposed LeBron-slayer. The first is that of the Denver optimist, believer, or fan, and goes something like this: After the Dwight-Howard-owns-Jokic impression in Game 1, the Lakers, like everybody else, have their hands full with the big man. And a win in Game 4 implies the Nuggets confidence coming off all theyve accomplished this offseason could waterfall and power them forward the rest of the method.
Denver was blown out in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series versus the Jazz, and in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series versus the Clippers. It turns out, those dominating games to go up, or lead to, a 2-0 series lead over the Nuggets let to an entire lot of hollow certainty about the Nuggets.
