JUST ONE MORE
Crucial Game 3 stretch pushed Nuggets to within win of NBA Finals
Strahinja and Nemanja Jokic waved their hands like they wanted to buy a round for every sour Laker fan in the building.
After Nikola, their younger brother, was whistled for a questionable foul on Anthony Davis less than five minutes into the third quarter, the Jokic brothers were the first people in the arena eager to see Nuggets coach Michael Malone challenge the foul call.
Their vigorous, vehement pleas would’ve been enough to make most coaches cower.
Up 68-63 with 7:24 left in the third quarter of Saturday’s Game 3, even Jokic called for his coach to review what would become his fourth foul of the night. The challenge was unsuccessful, and Jokic zipped his hoodie up as his animated brothers, seated next to Jokic’s wife, screamed and shouted from their seats directly behind Denver’s bench.
What followed was the most crucial stretch of the game, and the primary reason the Nuggets hung on 119-108, pushing the Lakers to the brink of a humbling season-ending sweep in the Western Conference Finals on Saturday night.
“Are we going to survive with Nikola on the bench with four fouls?” Malone admitted asking himself in the moment. “But we did. I thought KCP was unbelievable during that stretch.
Made big plays, made big shots. Our defense stepped up to hold water while Nikola was out.”
Michael Porter Jr. nailed a quick 3-pointer from the wing to allay any early concerns that the Nuggets wouldn’t be able to score with their air traffic controller grounded on the bench. Next Bruce Brown scored two quick buckets, both the result of extra effort and hustle. Porter hit another clutch 3-pointer, followed 30 seconds later by one from Kentavious Caldwell-pope — his third of the quarter.
“Continued to move the ball, help each other on defense and hit the open guy that’s open throughout that stretch,” Caldwell-pope said. “Nikola got his (fourth) foul, (Jamal) didn’t have it going a little bit, but we have other guys, including myself, that can make a play, make a shot down the stretch when we need it.”
After dousing the Lakers for 30 points in the first half, Jamal Murray’s torrential run dried up in that third quarter. If the Nuggets were going to seize Game 3, their defense was non-negotiable.
Caldwell-pope didn’t budge when he found himself on the block matched up against Lebron James. As a unit — Caldwellpope, Murray, Porter and Aaron Gordon, with valuable minutes from Brown and Jeff Green as well — hustled in transition, jumped passing lanes and cleared the glass against Los Angeles’ imposing frontcourt.
The Lakers only outscored the Nuggets by three (1916) in that pivotal stretch. It was one more indication of the varied and numerous ways that Denver can win.
“I learn a lot about this team every time we play,” Caldwell-pope said. “We have that resilience, that dog mentality, where no matter if we’re up, down, we’re going to continue to fight and play our game.”
In the second half, the Lakers managed just 42% from the field, including just 6 for 20 from 3-point range.
Their tenacity bought Malone enough time before putting Jokic back in the game to start the fourth quarter. From there, Jokic, who’d struggled to solve the Lakers’ frontcourt riddle through three quarters, played closer. He scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a dagger 3-pointer with 3:17 left and the game still undecided. Malone said Jokic became more
vocal in the huddles and suggested leaning heavily on Denver’s most potent offense: the Joker-murray two-man game.
“That was Nikola’s call,” Malone said.
Added Murray: “Jokic did a good job of clearly in English speaking to the team in the huddle about where everybody should be.”
Murray scored seven in the final frame, with a devilish dime to Jokic for an easy interior bucket.
The deeper this Denver postseason run goes, the more it seems like history
is on their side.
“I believed it from the jump that we could win a championship,” Caldwellpope said.
They’ve got one more game before that vision becomes even clearer.
“We went up 2-0, so we wanted to come on the road and make this really a businesslike trip,”caldwell-pope said. “We’re coming to get both games. We got the one tonight, and just Monday we’ve got to continue to just do what we did here and try to come out with a second win.”