Gags to riches.
With the world watching and everyone who matters playing, the Nuggets delivered confirmation of something that has been percolating for a month: They are back.
In a little over two hours Saturday night, they exorcised the demons of last spring’s 20-point Game 7 collapse against the Timberwolves and proved something we have been feeling since their coach and GM were fired:
They care.
More than the 125 Denver fans whose tickets were purchased by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on the secondary market to import The Wall of Clippers boosters behind the basket.
The first thought is that they were paid actors. A Nuggets fan standing in section 144 advanced that notion, blurting, “They look too ugly to be Angelenos.” They inspired anger, though anyone who surrendered their seat deserves more of your wrath. “Beat L.A.” chants reverberated during timeouts.
Nice try, paper Clippers. The only Wall that can leave someone comfortably numb is Pink Floyd.
Another axiom was also proven on Saturday night. The Nuggets are really good when they play defense. Weird, isn’t it? They throttled the Clippers despite Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray missing their first nine shots. So convincing was this beatdown, Jokic sat the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter with five fouls.
How did this happen?
“Everybody brought something. When you do that, you know that your two best players are going to get going. And they did. I am really proud of the guys,” interim coach David Adelman said. “Crazy series. Fun to win.”
The Nuggets did not improve their roster on Friday. No one returned from injury or suspension. If anything, it showed the value of staying in the moment, of playing with emotion, but not becoming emotional. Their experience in the postseason over the last three seasons showed.
The Nuggets buried the Clippers with a 27-6 run bridging the second and third quarters. With Jokic cast as a player-coach — we haven’t seen him this vocal and animated since Serbia’s Olympic bronze medal run — Russell Westbrook and Peyton Watson provided a jolt, combining for 15 points in the second quarter.
Aaron Gordon, who had more fouls than points in the season-ending loss to Minnesota, delivered a series of wows, from blocks to put-backs to alley-oops to reverse slams. Christian Braun scored a series-high 21 points.
Denver widened its lead to 93-66 after three quarters. Even the most pessimistic among us realized this cushion was safe.
OK, I know what you are thinking: UFC, KFC, OKC in five. That could very well play out when the Nuggets face the Thunder in the second round, beginning Monday night in Oklahoma City.
But the Nuggets showed us something.
“We are sticking together,” Westbrook said.
Nuggets-Clippers Game 7 3-pointers: Christian Braun wins the Harden matchup, once and for all
They are connected. They are no longer eye-rolling, finger-pointing, and playing defense with less interest than a PayPal credit card. And oh yeah, Adelman The Interim is no longer a thing. Josh Kroenke must make Adelman the next head coach the day after the season ends. It is known inside the building that the brass want to hire him. Now, they have their reason. He earned the corner office on Saturday night.
Adelman carved out a smart, creative game plan. The Nuggets mixed in zones and matchup concepts. Their hands, especially Jokic’s, clogged the passing lanes. James Harden did not make a bucket in the first quarter. Norman Powell, the difference in Game 6, morphed into Thurston Howell. And he wasn’t the only Clippers player on an island. They clanked 19 of 27 3-pointers.
When the Nuggets force tough shots, they change the pace of the game, they blend seamlessly into transition. Jamal Murray started a fast break with a falling-out-of-bounds rebound. Jokic threw an outlet pass to Braun that clocked at 98 miles per hour on the radar gun. And no one will forget Westbrook’s dunk with 6:54 remaining. At last check, he was still hanging on the rim.
“I am just going to stay up here,” Westbrook said. “The moment. … It was kind of a sigh of relief.”
Westbrook was discarded by the Lakers and run out of his hometown by the Clippers after last season. With guardrails in place for his playing time under Adelman, he is experiencing a playoff renaissance.
“I said after Game 1, I would make them pay,” Westbrook said. “I guess it didn’t work out so well for them.”
Perhaps this was the first chapter of his revenge tour. No player is more closely connected with the Thunder than Westbrook. He promised to be a force of nature. When the Nuggets follow this blueprint, no one can stop them. Not even the Thunder, who split the season series at two games apiece, as Denver averaged 133.5 points in its wins.
What was interesting about Saturday night was the closing. The Nuggets did something remarkable, but did not act like it. This team does not believe it is done, does not have a wandering eye on Cancun. This is the team that began the season with championship goals.
One wall has been climbed.
The Nuggets are back.
“I think the owner, maybe he wanted to change something, change the energy. And probably he did, you know,” Jokic said. “He got the result that, what he was looking for.”
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