In all the years of Nikola Jokic, Denver has not witnessed a Nuggets season capable of rivaling the internal tension and turmoil of this one.
Seemingly bursting at the seams with frustration at the low points, their usually stoic superstar turned 30 and turned animated; their head coach and general manager waged philosophical war until both were left behind in the rubble; and their supplementary pieces were subjected to increasingly believable speculation that a major change looms this summer.
The uncertainty of the future isn’t going anywhere, but amid that instability, the Nuggets are going to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the sixth time in seven years.
Pushing back those existential questions for the time being and drowning out nightmarish memories of a 20-point Game 7 lead squandered, Denver laid a season-ending smackdown on the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday — a euphoric 120-101 Game 7 win at Ball Arena.
The reward is a 48-hour turnaround and a Game 1 in Oklahoma City on Monday night against the 68-win Thunder.
The Nuggets led by 11 at halftime and stretched it out to 25 with a deafening 17-0 run early in the third quarter. In that vicinity, the lead lingered for just enough time that fans could feel the beads of sweat dripping down their brows: Around the same point in the game last year, Denver led Minnesota by 20 only to suffer the largest blown lead in NBA Game 7 history.
Those same fans held their collective breath when Jokic picked up his third, fourth and fifth fouls in a two-minute span later in the third quarter. If a 27-point advantage could feel unsafe, this one did.
But the onslaught only continued. Maybe it was even fitting that Jokic wasn’t on the floor for the decisive blow — Denver had won his rest stint by five points in the first half.
Role players were the Nuggets’ heroes. Aaron Gordon was their leading scorer with 22 points. Christian Braun was a stone-cold sniper from the 3-point line against indifferent defense, scoring 21 and eliminating James Harden from the series with a seven-point, 2-for-8 performance. Braun also added five boards, four assists and no turnovers. Peyton Watson contributed a handful of vital stops and shots.
And Russell Westbrook spat in the collective face of his former team by posting 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. He officially got the party started in the fourth quarter when he hung on the rim after a dunk for about 10 seconds, picked up a technical foul, mocked the “T” gesture, then mouthed to the crowd: “I don’t give a (redacted).”
Jokic and Jamal Murray needed only combine for 32 inefficient points, though interim coach David Adelman did feel pressed to check them back in when the Clippers’ deep bench made a run, white flag waved and all.
“I thought last year, the Minnesota game, we did, we ran out of gas after putting everything out there in the first half,” Adelman said before opening tip. “And so I have to help them with that. We have to balance that as best as we can, understand how long this game is.”
Coaching in an unprecedented situation, Adelman was up against one of the most daunting possible counterparts in the sport. Ty Lue celebrated 48 on Saturday, but he was so focused on game prep that he claimed to forget the occasion when wished a happy birthday during his pregame news conference. One would suppose that’s how a coach gets to be 4-0 in Game 7s — Lue’s record as he arrived in Denver.
After replacing Kris Dunn’s minutes with Nicolas Batum in the second half of Game 6, Lue threw another off-speed pitch by starting neither. Instead, Derrick Jones Jr. took the spot and led the Clippers with seven first-quarter points as Denver dared him to shoot.
When Lue tried to implement Dunn as a sub, Adelman challenged his floor-spacing with a zone defense. Dunn wasn’t able to make Denver pay from the perimeter or from the middle of the zone, missing all three shots in the first half — including a layup. That was the last Denver saw of him until garbage time.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets did their best to prove the old adage that role players perform better at home. The Clippers took a 6-0 lead. Jokic appeared frustrated by their defense early, stumbling to an 0-for-5 start. But Braun and Westbrook restored confidence to the arena with shot-making.
Westbrook finished the series 41.9% from the 3-point line, even as Lue refused to give up on the ex-Clipper’s jumper being a liability.
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