The Denver Nuggets care. Or at least Jamal Murray does. He showed us that much in the 129-127 loss to the Utah Jazz in Game 4. But Donovan Mitchell reminded us how low that bar is, and how frustrating it is that it needed reaffirming in a playoff setting. Utah is peaking at the right time. The series is all but over, and it’s hard to say we learned anything new about the Denver Nuggets in the postseason — anything positive at least.

Michael Malone changed his starting lineup Sunday night, replacing Michael Porter Jr. with Jerami Grant, and putting Monte Morris alongside Jamal Murray in place of Torrey Craig. The defensive struggles continued, but the Grant-Porter swap appeared tenable, while Morris added a crisp quality to the half-court offense. The ball finally popped, the Nuggets looked engaged, and the dark swirling clouds overhead relented ever so slightly, revealing that the sun was shining somewhere beyond that layer of dreariness.

Paul Millsap found an unexpected rhythm in the first quarter, his efforts reinforced by two threes from Murray and an aggressive Jerami Grant. The starting lineup appeared reinvigorated, but still, no one could stop Mitchell. When MPJ checked in off the bench, the ascending star’s eyes grew wide, presumably salivating as he sought out the switch and took it right at the rookie on consecutive possessions. The defense remained dreadful, but the Nuggets held a slim lead thanks to 36 first-quarter points.

For a brief stretch in the second quarter, as halftime drew near, a small window of opportunity opened. A strong close would have pushed the lead to double-digits, but Denver fumbled the opportunity, and Utah cut the eight-point lead down to just one.

To this point, Murray and Mitchell were locked in another scoring dual, and for the rest of the game, they were the most important players on the court. Murray dropped 50 points, which wasn’t the game-high, topped only by Mitchell’s 51—making the pair the first set of opponents to go for 50 in playoff history.

The Jazz laid down their usual third-quarter ass-kicking, and the Nuggets trailed by nine as the fourth-quarter began. Murray was transcendent, playing better than ever before at the highest level, and dropped 21 in the final frame. He was scorching hot, and all Denver needed was a single stop on the other end. They couldn’t manage it.

The Nuggets trailed the Jazz 113-111 with 2:34 left. Jamal Murray was so hot that Denver needed just one stop.

Utah scored on its next five possessions before Denver started fouling.

Mitchell jumper
Mitchell ft's
Mitchell layup
Mitchell three-pointer
Mitchell ft's

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 24, 2020

Throw in an untimely clear-path foul and the Nuggets’ chance at evening the series slipped through their fingers like sand. The free throw disparity is noteworthy, the Jazz went to the line 36 times to Denver’s 13 in a one-possession game. But the truth is Utah made its luck in that regard all series long. They broke down the defense, the drove often and with ease — they attacked the rim. Any single call, or no-call, is ultimately insignificant against the background of this series. Denver was outworked, outcoached, and outplayed for the better part of four games.

And so there’s one more question for the Nuggets to answer. This group, the one down in the bubble, they won’t be named champions. They likely won’t advance to the second round. But how do they want to go out? Will their pride shine through? Or will they roll over and accept the mercy kill? The series isn’t over — not unless the Nuggets want it to be.

Let’s go to the grades:

Honor Roll

Jamal Murray: A+

You’ll notice a difference between Mitchell’s and Murray’s 50-point performances. One of them went to the line 18 times. It wasn’t Murray. The Blue Arrow was sensational despite an unfriendly whistle. His 50 came on 31 shots, including 15 attempts from three, while shooting 58% from the field. He grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out 7 assists, and played his ass off from the opening tip. Murray had that look in his eyes, the look of a man who wasn’t willing to accept his fate. He took and made the necessary shots from deep, ran his mouth, and spread hope where it had no business permeating. Somewhere inside Murray is an animal, an animal that might very well strike fear in his opponents on the biggest stage one day. His path forward is clear — more consistency and a shot profile that more closely resembles his from Sunday night. The end of that path, should he follow it, is bonafide stardom.

Nikola Jokić – A-

Jokić showed up and stepped up after an embarrassing Game 3. He dropped 29 points on 50% shooting, grabbed 7 rebounds, and recorded 6 assists. Nine of those points came from three-point range, where Jokić took 10 shots. He was but one or two makes away from swinging the result of this game, and possibly the series. By the end of the game, Gobert was leaking further and further out to the perimeter, allowing Morris and Murray to attack the rim freely for the first time all series.

Defense matters, however, and the harsh realities about Denver’s perimeter defense and Mitchell revealing himself to be a demi-god don’t excuse Jokić. This series is exposing him in ways that are hard to swallow. That he can’t protect the rim, or deny the lob-threat matters. And while he was far more active and engaged in last postseason’s run than he’ll ever get credit for, he’s been everything the detractors claimed through four games against Utah.

The Class

Paul Millsap – B-

So close to a redemption game from Millsap. He exploded in the first quarter, then blocked a layup from Mitchell and stared him down in crunch time. But his most significant contribution to the game might have been an untimely clear-path foul – one that pushed this game just beyond Denver’s reach.

Jerami Grant – B-

It’s hard to point to any one thing Grant did and feel too impressed, but whatever qualities arose from his presence in the starting lineup were positive. Had the Nuggets stole this one and evened the series, Malone might walk away from this game feeling he’d found something with the new starting group.

Monte Morris – C-

Swapping Morris for Craig changed the ball-movement, but ultimately Morris was too small on defense and didn’t contribute much on the other end as a scorer. Just 7 points on 3/10 from the floor in 35 minutes.

Principal’s Office

Michael Porter Jr. – D+

So far, Porter has been neither playable on defense, nor lethal enough on offense that it redefines the former. Utah targeted him every second he spent on the court, and frankly, he hasn’t been involved enough on the offensive end. He is a rookie, and he will learn from this.