"It's pure basketball": Nuggets' championship defense begins in a familiar way

The Nuggets won their first championship in franchise history last season by playing basketball the right way. Denver passed up good shots for great shots. No one on the Nuggets was concerned about their individual stats. Selfless basketball — the DNA of this team — was always on display.

Nikola Jokic, as we all know, would rather hand out an assist than score a basket.

But in the first half of Game 1 against the Lakers, those extra passes and unselfish plays didn’t lead to made shots. Denver shot just 6-23 (26.1%) from 3-point range. The Nuggets went ice cold. However, they trusted their process and sure enough, their fortunes changed after halftime. Denver went on to shoot 9-19 (47.45) from beyond the arc throughout the third and fourth quarters.

It’s what led the Nuggets to a 114-103 win and a 1-0 series lead.

“That’s the beauty of this team,” Jamal Murray said about the Nuggets’ chemistry, synergy, and propensity to play for one another. “It’s pure basketball.”

The pure basketball that Murray mentions has been brewing in the Rocky Mountains for quite a while. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s been built brick by brick, pass by pass, and made basket by made basket.

Jokic and Murray have played together for the last seven years. The Nuggets drafted Michael Porter Jr. in 2018. Aaron Gordon landed in the Mile High City three years ago. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been here for two seasons.

This isn’t how the NBA usually works in this era. You don’t typically see this type of continuity or this type of connection within a team these days.

This is something special.

“I think we know how to play together,” said Jokic, who finished with a team-high 32 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and dominated Anthony Davis and the Lakers’ frontcourt all night. “I think it is not just one player, I think everybody knows what to do. Everyone’s roles are really well set. We all do our roles the best that we can, that is the best way I can describe us.”

Within the Nuggets’ ugly offensive first half of Game 1, Denver dealt with foul trouble. Gordon picked up two first-quarter personals and only logged 12 minutes in the first half. So second-year forward Peyton Watson, who made his playoff rotation debut Saturday, stepped in and was tasked with guarding LeBron James. Watson led the Nuggets’ bench with eight points and hit 2-4 from 3-point range.

Also stepping into the rotation was DeAndre Jordan, who didn’t play in the Nuggets’ final five games of the regular season. But the veteran held his own and provided a bit of muscle and physicality with Jokic on the bench.

“He’s a great person in any aspect of a locker room or team,” Jokic said of Jordan. “He’s good to give you advice on and off the court, to make fun of someone, to make fun of him, he’s always up to something, to share a glass of wine. He’s a really good teammate.”

Then, after halftime, the Nuggets hit their stride.

While watching the third and fourth quarters of Game 1 unfold, it was difficult to imagine any way that the Nuggets could lose this series. Davis, who matched Jokic with 32 points, again couldn’t guard the soon-to-be crowned three-time MVP 1-on-1 or bother him much as a weakside defender. Davis also logged 45 minutes of playing time.

He doesn’t have the stamina to keep that up throughout the series or continue to chase Jokic up and down the floor.

Another storyline from Game 1: The Nuggets finished with six total free-throw attempts and only four turnovers. The free-throw attempts? Well, you know the story there. The Lakers attempted 19. The turnovers? The reality is that this Nuggets team might know the Lakers better than Los Angeles knows itself.

Jokic had 0 turnovers in 39 minutes. Murray had 22 points, 10 assists, and 0 turnovers in 39 minutes as well. The only Nuggets starter to commit a turnover? Aaron Gordon. He had one.

The Nuggets have now won nine straight games against the Lakers. They swept them in the Western Conference Finals last year. Denver now has five straight wins against Los Angeles this season.

The Nuggets know exactly what the Lakers will throw at them and when. They’re not going to be surprised by anything in this series, including the desperation that Los Angeles will play with in Game 2.

“We are desperate too,” Jokic said. “We don’t want to lose at home.”