Denver – Michael Porter Jr. can barely raise his left arm to dress.
The 2nd year spraining on his shoulder is an injury that would normally keep him out of action for at least a month. But when it was told this calendar by the staff training staff of Denver at the time of the initial injury, wearing simply shook the head and said that he was not seated. So, Friday evening, after the Nuggets took an advance of 2-1 on Oklahoma City Thunder during their semi-final match of the Western Conference, Porter went to the podium with his left arm suspended by his side. Under its transmission was a thick bag of ice. And to prepare even to play in the wild victory of Denver 113-104 against OKC in Ball Arena on Friday evening, he had to take an injection of Lidocaine.
In many ways, Porter sums up the nuggets as a whole. Bruised and beaten, this ragasing group runs in the playoff series that borders the improbable. A month ago, this Denver franchise was in shock, having cleaned the house at the front office. Now, after a victory for seven games against the clippers in the first round, and two victories on OKC this week, the Nuggets, with an acting head coach who heads the ship, are two victories to disturb the best NBA team and to progress to the Western Conference final.
“We just knew we had to stay there and stay close,” said Denver’s acting coach David Adelman. “We know that the more we can stay in the game, the more we can give ourselves, because these guys play great minutes like us. It was good to find a way to win.”
During the first three games in this series, the Nuggets held an advance for a large total of 17 minutes and 22 seconds. The Thunder maintained an advance for 123 minutes and 17 seconds, or about 82% of the series. So, how do the Nuggets have a series lead before match 4 on Sunday afternoon? How did they take a team from Oklahoma City who won 68 games in the regular season and reduced it to what is equivalent to an essential scenario in just under 48 hours? And how do he devil the Nuggets accomplished this Friday evening with the megastar Nikola Jokić pulling 8 out of 25 on the ground and turning the ball more than eight times?
Jokić, widely considered the best player in the world, fought as much as in any eliminatory match in his career, Denver players were enormous. Jamal Murray scored a summit of 27 points, including a score or a help in 17 points in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Aaron Gordon scored 22 points and struck his third gargantuan shot from the playoffs, the 3 -point pointer with 27.5 seconds to play who sent the match in overtime. Porter scored 21 points, although he is barely capable of lifting this shoulder, and struck a group of big hits in the first half which maintained the nuggets attached to the dashboard.
Second, a defense that was so criticized in the regular season came to life in the playoffs. According to figures, Denver had the 22nd best defense of the League, which ranked near the bottom. But once the playoffs, the Nuggets began to defend themselves with healthy despair and started to stop in large situations. Friday evening, Denver held Oklahoma City 1 by 7 shot from overtime. He held the candidate of the MVP of Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 7 shots out of 22, and kept him out of the way and forced him in several reversals in the biggest moments of the game. In match 2 on Wednesday evening, the Thunder was so good to flee Denver. In match 3, the Nuggets, who admitted that they were embarrassed by Wednesday’s performance, were much better physically at the point of attack.
“When you were struck as if we were struck on Wednesday, you retaliated,” said Murray. “I think we have implemented a good defensive performance. It comes from everyone who stands with each other, and to believe in each other and stay together. We were pretty well covered. ”
Denver’s formula for winning two of the first three games in the series lies to find a way to enter the section in the section. The advantages of Oklahoma City have in this series are obvious. Thunder is deeper and more collectively athletic. They are very fast defensively and basketball. It is a healthier team, and they have a ceiling that almost no other team of the League is able to strike, as shown by the 149-106 victory of match 2 over the Nuggets.
That being said, Denver – The NBA 2023 champion – has the major advantage of having been in so many battles in the playoffs that he knows what he is going to do if a game arrives at minutes. The Nuggets will execute Murray and Jokić Pick and Rolls on each possession and dare the other team to arrest him. Friday evening, the Thunder, which played very few tight matches this season, seemed significantly uncertain of themselves in the decreasing possessions of the fourth quarter and in overtime. The nuggets looked very sure of themselves, and they seemed to know that they were going to find a way to win the match.
“Not to descend from 60 points helped us,” said Adelman, referring to the eruption of match 2. “It is difficult to run to return to the game when you broke 60 points. I think the experience helps us late in the games. Oklahoma City is a team so difficult to play. Who are their best is what game 2 looked like.
In a few ways, it is surprising that the Nuggets won this match. For so many years, Jokić’s brilliance has masked some list defects. Friday evening, Jokić was really taken over by his teammates. It was not the ineffective shot. It was not even the turnover, both concern. It was how the defense of Oklahoma City won it. One of his greatest forces has always been his ability to play at his own pace, similar to LeBron James and Luka Dončić. In this series, the Thunder has always accelerated it and always made it make bad decisions.
During this night, Murray and Gordon and wear compensated for this. It was the mastery of Murray in the section. It was Gordon imposing his will physically in the painting on both ends of the soil. It was to wear with his shooting, then with a 3-point clutch on the second possession of overtime which gave the Nuggets an advance of 107-102. It was the first time in the game where they had a multi-possession lead, and the game would not get closer after that.
This means that these nuggets are a team, not the team that looked like a lot of people too many times during the regular season. This list met. And although it seems cliché, they really play for each other. A month ago, the only thing Adelman asked the group was that they started playing with joy again. A month later, they quickly become one of the best stories in the NBA.
“We know it will take everyone,” said Murray. “Defensively, we must be on a chain and we have to help each other and cover ourselves. It takes a lot of communication and we do a great job of this. ”
(Photo by Jamal Murray: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
