This was a total gut punch.
Think Anthony Carter and Kenyon Martin throwing away inbound passes in the 2009 Western Conference Finals. Think Danilo Gallinari tearing his ACL eight days before the 2013 playoffs. Think losing Game 82 in Minnesota in 2017. Think CJ McCollum’s 37 points in Game 7 of last year’s playoffs.
Just like those blows, Anthony Davis’ game-winning three, which came with the Nuggets leading 103-102 and on the verge of evening the Western Conference Finals at 1-1, hurt. And it’s going to hurt for a long, long time.
It especially hurt because of how the first 47 minutes and 58 seconds of Game 2 went. The Nuggets played far from their best basketball in the first half and were lucky to trail by 10 points at the end of the second quarter. But Denver found something in the third.
The Nuggets came roaring back. They cut the Lakers’ advantage to three late in the third quarter and took the lead at the 7:26 mark of the fourth on a beautiful reverse layup from Jamal Murray. Denver then found itself down by eight with three minutes remaining in the fourth but roared back again. The Nuggets soon cut the Laker lead again to one on a Jokic three.
If there’s one trait that this Nuggets team will be remembered for it’s their resilience, and Denver flashed the defining attribute that sets this team apart again in Game 2. The Nuggets kept brawling with the Lakers. They kept battling.
The Nuggets’ defense held the Lakers to 39% shooting in the second half and LeBron James to dismal fourth quarter where he shot 1-6 from the floor and was more interested in arguing with the refs than running back on defense. Nikola Jokic was unstoppable down the stretch too, scoring the Nuggets’ last 12 points of the game and making one of the more ridiculous tip-ins you’ll ever see.
But for the first time in these playoffs, the Nuggets’ resilience didn’t result in a come-from-behind win. Maybe that’s why this one will hurt for a while.
“We put the effort there,” Jokic said. “We put the fight.”
There were plenty of plays the Nuggets wish they had back. Denver turned the ball over 13 times in the first half leading to 13 free Laker points. In Game 2, the Lakers grabbed 13 offensive rebounds including the all-important one with 5.5 seconds left that kept their Game 2 hopes alive.
The Nuggets also went 12-17 from the free-throw line in the second half. PJ Dozier took two big-time charges in the fourth and recorded a fourth-quarter steal and block that both came with less than four minutes to go, but his four missed free-throws in the final eight minutes were costly. Anthony Davis’ game-winner was far from a gimme, but he got a cleaner look than he should have had thanks to a blown defensive coverage and miscommunication by the Nuggets’ defense.
It’s not time for complete and total despair. You should be proud of this Nuggets team for the way they fought and clawed their way back. They weren’t overmatched by the Lakers. Denver played right with James and Davis.
Down 2-0, this group can’t be counted out until that final buzzer sounds and the Nuggets are officially eliminated. Although right now losing in the fashion that Denver did certainly stings.
“There’s no silver lining,” Malone said after the game. “This is the Western Conference finals. The message is we’re down 2-0. We’ll go out and win Game 3.”
You get the feeling Denver will come into Tuesday’s Game 3 with confidence. Sunday’s loss bore some similarities to Game 3 against the Clippers, a game that Denver lost but felt it gave away. It also drew parallels to Game 4 vs. the Jazz. The Nuggets lost that one too but Denver found something in the second half and went on to win the next three games.
“I think we played well most of the game,” Jokic said. “We were down. We came back again. We’re going to keep our heads up and onto the next one.”
This Nuggets team has bounced back from devastating, knee-buckling gut punches before. Denver’s Game 82 loss in Minnesota in 2018 is looked at by many within the Nuggets’ organization as a turning point for the franchise. The loss to Portland in Game 7 taught the Nuggets an important lesson about the trials and tribulations that many young teams go through in the playoffs. The Nuggets will also be better in the long run after Davis’ three regardless of what happens in the series.
“It was going to be [Davis] or LeBron, so we kind of knew it,” Jokic said about Davis’ game-winner. “A little bit of miscommunication. I think I had a really good contest to be honest. I think I was right there. But as soon as he shot the ball, he shot it really well, I kind of felt it going in and I think it was a swish. Great players make great shots.”
They’ll learn and grow from it, but this one will hurt for a long time. Unless the never-say-die Nuggets can shock the world one more time.
