Legends are built from adversity. To become a dynasty, choppy waters must be navigated.
Seriously, look at every great team in the last, I don't know, ten or so years. The two-time champion Miami HEAT with their big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The dynastic Golden State Warriors, winners of four championships in eight years. Those teams, at some point during their reign of terror, were pushed to the brink. Their backs were against the wall.
Miami won it all in 2012 to give James his first-ever championship ring, but in the 2013 NBA Finals, they were seconds away from losing to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.
Golden State experienced even more adversity. After winning their first championship in 2015, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green found themselves in a 3-1 hole during the 2016 Western Conference Finals to the rangy and hyper-athletic Oklahoma City Thunder (in a series that's oddly similar to the current second-round matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves). Two years later, they were once again tested. The Houston Rockets took a 3-2 series lead in the 2018 Conference Finals with homecourt advantage. That was after Golden State acquired Kevin Durant to form a nucleus that many deemed unbeatable. Even they were on the verge of collapsing.
Those dire moments are when the great teams and the greatest players show what they're made of. They elevate their play to meet the demands of the moment.
That's when legends are born. Stories we tell for years and years and years. The Ray Allen corner three-pointer that miraculously sent Game 6 of the 2013 Finals to overtime, eventually leading to Miami's second-straight championship. Game 6 Klay... in both 2016 and 2018.
When it looked like the end was near, those teams showed the world they were worth their salt. They pushed through adversity when vulnerability was at its highest.
That brings us to the 2024 Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Denver Nuggets, winners of the 2023 NBA title, found themselves in a very similar position. The defending champions unexpectedly dropped their first two games at home to begin the series. Homecourt advantage had been surrendered. Their dynastic aspirations were suddenly on hold. A young and hungry Minnesota Timberwolves team had punched them in the gut. Denver, like many of the great teams before them, was being tested. How would they respond to that adversity?
Very well, it turns out.
Denver traveled to Minnesota and delivered a championship-level response to steal Game 3. But still, they needed one more. A 3-1 series deficit would make the path to repeating as champions all the more difficult.
They got it done in Game 4 and restored that special feeling. That "team of destiny" sensation fans felt last spring while watching this once-in-a-lifetime core bring a title to the Mile High City. On Sunday, the Nuggets were once again infallible. They played like champions.
Denver marched onto Minnesota's home floor, in front of the rambunctious Target Center crowd, and snatched homecourt advantage back from the jaws of the famished Wolves. As a team, the Nuggets shot 57 percent from the field and 48.8 percent from three-point range. They could not miss. The sliders were turned down to easy mode against the best defense in the league. It was like some Harlem Globetrotters stuff out there. Every Nuggets shot felt magnetized to the rim.
"Never underestimate the heart of a champion," head coach Michael Malone said after Denver's 115-107 road victory.
Aaron Gordon had maybe the best game of his Nuggets tenure and scored 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting. He nailed two huge three-pointers and has made 8 of his 12 shots from distance in the series. His defense was incredible, too, as he held the Timberwolves to 3-of-14 from the field and superstar guard, Anthony Edwards, to 1-of-5 shooting.
Jamal Murray had a vintage "Murray Flurry" third quarter and kept Denver afloat with 12 points in the period while Nikola Jokić sat with foul trouble. He also, you know, casually nailed a 55-foot buzzer-beater at halftime. No big deal.
Those were hallmark performances from both players. Needed boosts of energy to help the Nuggets steal a pivotal game on the road.
But make no mistake, Game 4 had Nikola Jokić's fingerprints all over it. He's the metronome of consistency for the Nuggets. The centerpiece who steadies the ship when things get tough. He was that—and more—for Denver on Sunday.
Jokić finished with 35 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, and 3 steals, but the numbers don't even tell half the story. They paint just a portion of the picture. I'm hoping this will do the rest.
The Timberwolves came out with a dogged mentality after getting embarrassed by 27 points in front of their fans in Game 3. This is a very different Timberwolves team than the one Denver met up with in last year's first-round series. They're resilient. They absorb the Nuggets punches, those fiery magnetized-ball runs, and respond with equally forceful jabs. This is one of the toughest opponents Denver has faced in the Nikola Jokić era.
Game 4 felt that way. The Nuggets would go on a run, but the Timberwolves stayed hot on their heels. Edwards could not be stopped and finished with a game-high 44 points. All too often do we see opponents wilt under the pressure of Denver's unstoppable offense. Minnesota is not one of those teams, especially on Sunday. They never folded. They made the Nuggets earn it until the final buzzer.
Jokić steered his squad in the right direction early. He scored 11 points in the first quarter on 5-of-7 shooting. That helped Denver build an early double-digit lead at the beginning of the second quarter. It was apparent right away that we were due for a special night from the three-time MVP.
His first basket of the game came off a pick-and-roll with his co-star, Murray. Jamal laced a bounce pass to Nikola when Minnesota sent two defenders his way, and Rudy Gobert rotated over to put out the fire.
So, Nikola responded by faking a pass to Aaron Gordon to freeze Gobert in his tracks, only to launch a floater over the top. It was a great precursor for the rest of his night. A swished floater and elite manipulation of Minnesota's defense.
Minnesota presents a very unique challenge for Denver and Jokić, specifically. They start two seven-footers, Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert, to crowd the painted area and throw a ton of wingspan at Denver on the interior—that same interior where Nikola typically likes to operate.
Still, Jokić has devised counters to Minnesota's busy subway car-like paint defense over the past two years. I wrote about a number of them in our Series Preview. Attacking early, before the Wolves can get their defense set, is one of them. Nikola's trusty running floater is another one. His short midrange jumper is equally useful. Fading away on hook shots. That's also a counter.
Well, we saw all of those things on Sunday. The best way to beat Minnesota's double-big defense is to attack from a distance that Gobert and Towns' wingspans can't quite reach. And if they do commit defensively, well, Jokić will find the open man.
Jokić made 10 of his 15 shots from 5-to-14 feet away from the basket in Game 4. It was a superhuman performance from the in-between zone. His floater was dialed in, as was his short-range jumper. An out-of-this-world showcase of shooting touch. It felt like nothing even grazed the rim.
Notice how attacking from this part of the floor makes it impossible for Minnesota to send two bodies his way. That's not an accident. Nikola is taking these shots intentionally. He knows that shooting from this distance is the best way to create opportunities against single coverage. All the secondary defender can do is stand there helplessly and hope his teammate can miraculously force a miss.
In the few instances that Minnesota committed to double-teaming, well, Nikola was ready. He used the threat of his sizzling-hot scoring game to draw in a crowd, and then he made his move. That's how we got these incredible dimes to Gordon. He picked apart the defense with almost cruel preciseness, yanking Minnesota around on puppet strings. It was manipulation at its finest.
The recently crowned 2023-24 regular season MVP was also diligent about welcoming and absorbing contact from the very physical Timberwolves, leading to two "and-one" opportunities. Minnesota's physical nature seemed to catch Denver off guard in the first two games of the series... Jokić made sure that wasn't the case on Sunday. He initiated the contact. The bullies got bullied.
Jokić is like a supercomputer. The more information he gathers about a defense, the more comfortable he feels. If a series goes long, well, that works in his favor. That's just more data to parse.
Of course, Jokić hit his fair share of "OMG"-inducing shots. Tough buckets that leave a defense shrugging and tipping their caps. A wrong-footed hook shot over Naz Reid, for example. Even crazier was his buzzer-beating bucket at the end of the first quarter off a mean jump-stop (notice how Jokić drives down the left lane line, on the opposite side of the lurking Towns). It was that kind of night for the 29-year-old.
Now, as mentioned, Minnesota never went away in Game 4. It was like a game of tug-of-rope. Jokić's sublime offense would help the Nuggets build a big advantage, and then the Wolves would chip away at it. Denver, despite its superhuman shooting performance, could never quite put the Timberwolves to bed.
Minnesota got the deficit down to 8 points late in the fourth quarter, and that's when Denver turned to Old Faithful. The two-man game between Jokić and Murray. The play that helped bring the first-ever championship to the Rocky Mountains. Jokić finished his night the same way it began, swishing a pair of floaters over the outstretched arms of Minnesota's bigs.
Denver regained its double-digit advantage and never looked back. Now, they head back to Denver after miraculously regaining homecourt advantage. Not even four days ago, the Nuggets looked dead in the water. Somehow, some way, they're back in the driver's seat.
Game 4 was legacy-defining stuff from Nikola. A pantheon-level performance. The stuff of legend. Evidence as to why he's one of the all-time greats. With his team on the ropes, Jokić delivered. This was his "Game 6 Klay" performance. A showcase we'll look back on with a big toothy smile when reminiscing about his greatness in the future. He's had a lot of monstrous playoff performances in his decorated career. This one might've been his gutsiest.
Three regular season MVPs and one Finals MVP later, and he's still adding to his resume. Every time we think we've got him figured out, the Serbian maestro finds new ways to impress.