Can the Nuggets Improve Their Lead?
After the Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Nuggets by 43 points Wednesday night in what many thought was a series-altering game, the NBA world waited to see how Denver would respond. As it turns out, the Nuggets were more than capable of calming the storm as the team would bounce back with a 113-104 overtime win over the Thunder in Game Three of this Western Conference Semifinals series. While Nikola Jokic would only shoot eight-for-25, including zero-for-10 from three-point range, the rest of the Nuggets would step up. Jamal Murray went for 27 points, Aaron Gordon went for 22 points, and Michael Porter Jr. went for 21 points, including going five of six from three. However, the key aspect of last night’s game was the Denver defense as the Nuggets would limit the Thunder to just 104 points, down significantly from their 149-point outing the previous game, and their superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was held to just 18 points, and he went seven-for-22 from the field. However, with the Nuggets now firmly in control of this series, the question now arises: can the Nuggets go up 3-1?
Arguably, the most troubling aspect of last night’s game was that the Nuggets found a way to win with Jokic only shooting 32 percent from the field, something that is most likely not going to happen in the next game. This showcases just how deep the Nuggets are, as they were able to produce three other players who each went for 20 points. With points able to come from a variety of sources, this lends to the belief that the Nuggets have a good chance of winning Game Four as well. It is also worth pointing out that historically, teams that go up two games to one have gone on to win the series 80 percent of the time, further proving that Denver is more than capable, and almost likely, to go up 3-1.
All in all, if Denver is going to go up 3-1 on the Thunder, it will be due to their effort. It is no coincidence that the two games in which the Nuggets won were the games where they came out with energy and passion, played defense, and hustled for the ball. If they don’t do this then you will have a result like Wednesday. As for which Denver team we will see come 3:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, I’m willing to bet it will be the former.
