![]() ![]() Murray and Porter’s returns were the headliners, and for good reason. In all, Denver entered this postseason without seven players from last year’s 10-man playoff rotation, and have trimmed this year’s postseason rotation down to eight players. Bones Hyland was traded at the deadline for Reggie Jackson, who has barely seen the rotation. All of these players averaged more than 10 minutes per game in the playoffs. From there, he made one of the best value signings of the summer, bringing in Bruce Brown to reprise his role from two seasons ago in Brooklyn as a jack-of-all trades defender who could, at times, become a small-ball big.Īlong with trading Morris and Barton (who started 155 combined games a year ago, including all 10 playoff games), the Nuggets let JaMychal Green, Austin Rivers, Bryn Forbes, DeMarcus Cousins, and Facu Campazzo leave in free agency. The latter was a downgrade at backup point guard, but the former was a proven postseason commodity and the exact sort of two-way wing Denver needed to complete its starting five, a player capable of spacing the floor and knocking down shots while also being a solid perimeter defender. His first big move was trading Monte Morris and Will Barton, two longtime cogs in the Denver machine, for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith. It was a gamble on his stars staying healthy, but then again, there wasn’t a path to a title without that, anyway. General manager Calvin Booth - who ascended to the position after Tim Connelly went to Minnesota - decided to consolidate the roster, stripping a bit of regular season depth away in favor of a stronger playoff rotation. But the rest of the roster was murky, a collection of fine regular season players who weren’t necessarily reliable in a 16-game setting. ![]() They had a high-level fourth starter in Aaron Gordon, who had embraced his tertiary role and thrived alongside Jokic in the frontcourt. They had their core, with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic at the center, paired with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., both returning from injuries. However, the supporting cast has also been crucial to Denver with Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown Jr., and rookie Christian Braun all able to step up when needed.As the Denver Nuggets got ready for this past offseason, they faced the hardest question in professional sports: How do we make the leap from good to great? ‘The Joker’s’ all-round dominance has him leading the way in points, assists, and rebounds throughout the NBA postseason – an incredible feat for the two-time MVP. The Nuggets have dominated the series so far with Murray starring each night and Jokić putting on record-breaking performance after record-breaking performance. “This is a must-win for us, and hopefully, if that’s the mentality our guys can go out there and play with, we’ll put ourselves in a great position.” “Tomorrow’s game, we’re down 3-1,” Malone added. “Stay in the moment and once that jump ball goes up tomorrow night, our players, every possession, every moment of that game can’t be, ‘We have to win this game.’ We have to stay true to ourselves, trust what’s gotten us to this point.”īut the Denver head coach also knows the importance of Game 5. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone reiterated this sentiment on the eve of Game 5 and has urged his players not to think too much about the consequences of each specific in-game play. AAron Ontiveroz/Denver Post/Getty ImagesĪs seen when sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers to seal the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets seem to have mastered not letting the highs get too high or the lows get too low. The brilliant one-two punch of Jamal Murray and Jokić has been key for the Nuggets throughout the NBA postseason. ![]() The coolness of their leader on the court appears to trickle its way throughout the rest of the roster and Denver have played with an element of calm all the way through the NBA postseason. It’s just going to be a game that we need to win.” I think we are going to be locked in and ready to go. It’s going to be a job that we need to do to be done,” Jokić explained. ![]() With the Nuggets just one win away from a first NBA Championship, it would be easy to start the celebrations too early, but this Denver team aren’t getting ahead of themselves just yet. Game 5 will also be streamed live on fubo. With the two-man game of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray on fire throughout the postseason, it will be a tough ask of the Heat to stop the Nuggets from claiming that elusive NBA title, but stranger things have happened. Game 5 gets underway Monday at Ball Arena, Denver, and the Nuggets will be looking to seal the series in front of a home crowd. The Denver Nuggets are on the verge of making history and winning their first ever NBA Championship but with the defiant Miami Heat standing in their way, anything is possible. ![]()
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