Perhaps it was David Adelman’s fault. The glue-fingered Alex Caruso and Oklahoma City launched a surprise trap attack on Denver out of a timeout, the game hanging on a fourth-quarter pendulum, and the Nuggets’ interim HC didn’t plan for a press-break alignment to squirm their way free.
Perhaps it was Michael Porter Jr.’s fault. Adelman said the hobbled wing postgame was the next man who was “supposed to flash” — and flash, he did. But Porter’s cut toward the baseline didn’t remotely shake a sliding Jalen Williams.
Perhaps it was Christian Braun’s fault. He said as much, postgame. He was the inbounder, after all, and his meander up and down the out-of-bounds baseline found no organized target.
Nikola Jokic summed it up best after the 5-second violation that might’ve just tilted a playoff series.
“It’s really everybody,” the Nuggets’ center said postgame. “That cannot happen.”
For three games, the Nuggets had somehow stiff-armed the Thunder to the passenger seat and placed themselves behind the wheel thanks to late-game execution. Adelman had largely out-coached Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault in a battle of younger basketball minds, as the Thunder flubbed Game One on a series of last-second fouls. But Denver’s much-ballyhooed veteran advantage vanished at Ball Arena Sunday afternoon. The Nuggets came out of a timeout in the fourth quarter of a three-point game and couldn’t even inbound the ball.
Oklahoma City’s sudden press forced the turnover. Closer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander buried a soft turnaround seven seconds later for an 83-78 lead, sealing a two-possession advantage down the stretch of a game where most possessions clanked off iron.
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Nuggets go cold at wrong time, drop Game 4 to OKC Thunder at home Nuggets-Thunder Game 4 three-pointers: Broncos’ Sean Payton and George Paton witness offensive atrocity PHOTOS: Denver Nuggets lose to OKC Thunder in Game 4 of second-round NBA Playoffs series Is OKC Thunder’s playoff inexperience giving Nuggets an upper hand? David Adelman weighs in With Nikola Jokic the ‘worst player on the court,’ Nuggets find way to beat Thunder anywayEven as inbounder Braun took expressive accountability postgame, though — noting he shouldn’t have taken the inbound until Denver was organized — Adelman shouldered a majority of the blame.
“You can’t have a mental mistake like that with four and a half (minutes) to go,” Adelman said postgame. “And I’ll take the hit. If I come out of a timeout, maybe I have to set up a press-break alignment first to get into our execution on the other end. Because that cannot happen. That’s inexcusable.”
Blame the 36-hour turnaround between Games 3 and 4, dead-legging the jumpers of a Nuggets team that had already braved a gauntlet in Los Angeles. Blame the atrocious shooting out of the gate, an avert-your-eyes 2-of-24 from the field in the first quarter. But Denver, largely, fumbled a crucial Game 4 down the stretch, its championship savvy serving no use in a fourth quarter outscored 29-18.
“People can say it’s a tired mistake,” Adelman continued, of the 5-second call. “That’s not. That’s an execution mistake, and that’s on me.”
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