Typically in a seven-game playoff series, Game 3 on the road could best be described as the desperation game.
If the lower-seeded team has managed to steal a game to knot the series up 1-1, well, they'll be playing with extra energy to swing the series in their favor. If they've upset the higher-seeded opponent in both contests, best believe they're tasting blood in the water. And if they're down 2-0 like the Los Angeles Lakers were on Thursday, they'll play like they've got nothing to lose. Leave it all out on the floor because this is likely your last chance. No team has ever rebounded from a 3-0 deficit in NBA playoff history.
The Denver Nuggets certainly felt that energy as the road team in Game 3. The Lakers were desperate and built a double-digit lead in the first half as they had in all three games of this first-round series, and it was clear they weren't going out quietly.
Two Nuggets, in particular, were not going to let the Lakers make this a series. Aaron Gordon was an absolute force in the first three-quarters of Game 3. He scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the first half alone to chop the double-digit deficit down to just 4 points at the break.
Gordon was an absolute force on the offensive glass all throughout the night. Five of his playoff career-high 15 total rebounds came by cleaning up his teammates' misses, and he was diligent about establishing strong inside positioning on box-outs.
"I'm utility guy. Do a little bit of everything. Do a little bit of a lot. I just take what the game gives me and I do whatever I can to help my team win," said Gordon after the win. "However it comes across during the game, it doesn't really matter to me. I just care about that end result."
He was relentless about staying in attack-mode. Gordon is a full 235 pounds of pure muscle at 6'8, and his size makes him an absolutely nightmarish cover for most opponents. When he puts his hard hat on and barrels into the painted area, there's usually not much you can do to stop him. Here, he looks like He-Man powering through two defenders and then grabbing his own miss against— yes, count them—four Laker jerseys.
Denver was smart about running designed sets to keep him in a good rhythm. Here, he and Jamal Murray connected for a pick-and-roll, and Gordon plowed through LeBron freakin' James, one of the strongest players in NBA history.
Head coach Michael Malone loves to run plays out of the HORNS formation, which is an alignment that features two players spacing in the corners, two big men standing at the elbows, and the point guard at the top of the arc. Here's an example from Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Murray is up top running the offense, Gordon and Nikola Jokić are placed carefully at the elbows, and Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are spacing the floor in the corners as Denver's two best catch-and-shooters.
Now, Malone loves to play around with the "positions" in the HORNS formation. Many times, he'll have Gordon run point guard with Jokić and Murray at the elbows, and Porter Jr. and Caldwell-Pope in the corners. Inverting the floor like this can really confuse an opponent. It puts defenders in positions they're not accustomed to being in, thereby complicating rotations.
Below, Gordon ignited Denver's HORNS offense by dropping the ball off to Jokić at the left elbow and then setting a screen for Murray at the opposite elbow. Jamal flew out of Aaron's screen into a handoff (this pindown-screen-plus-a-handoff action is known as "Chicago"), and meanwhile, Gordon rolled hard to the basket. Eventually, the play ended with a powerful alley-oop from Gordon when the Laker defense converged on Murray.
Gordon did an incredible job occupying the two "dunker spots" along the baseline directly next to the basket. Here, relocating from the left dunker spot to the right dunker spot gave Jokić an outlet when the Laker defense double-teamed him. If Gordon had just stayed on the left side of the floor, there's a good chance this results in a Jokić turnover.
AG's teammates consistently found him in the two dunker spots throughout Game 3. That's what playing together for so long can do for a team; they know he's always there, always in the right spot. Denver ran a "double drag" or double pick-and-roll set with Caldwell-Pope and Jokić screening for Murray, and Jamal found Gordon with a gorgeous wraparound pass for one of his career-high 6 dunks.
"It's kind of a telepathy we've got with this group. We've got a mind-meld going on with our starting five," Gordon said.
There was one player, in particular, who especially seemed to have that "mind-meld" with Gordon. Michael Porter Jr. recorded 3 assists against the Lakers, and all of them resulted in buckets from Gordon. These weren't just your average old passes either. We're talking difficult drop-off passes through multiple defenders to Gordon in the dunker spots.
What really stood out about Porter Jr.'s passes was his timing. He drove hard into the painted area and waited right until he drew a crowd of Laker defenders before dishing the ball to Gordon. Not too early and not too late. These weren't reactive passes; they were intentional and coordinated. Porter Jr. weaponized his scoring and manipulated the defense. It was one of the finest playmaking games of Porter Jr.'s career.
Now, to manipulate the defense like this, Porter Jr. would need to be scoring the ball well... and, uh, man has MPJ been holding his end of the bargain there. The 25-year-old is averaging 20.3 points on a blistering 54.5 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three-point land through three games of this series.
Denver managed to build an 8-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and Porter Jr. pulled some tricks out of his isolation-scoring bag to blow the game open. He hit numerous pull-up jumpers over Laker defenders like they weren't even there. That includes the 6'10 Anthony Davis, one of the greatest defenders of this generation.
This play might've been his prettiest. Porter Jr. dribbled down the right side of the floor and tried to step back into a pull-up jumper, but LeBron James did a good job sticking with him. So, Porter Jr. reset by passing off to Gordon at the right elbow. Instead of giving up on the play altogether, MPJ rocketed into a handoff from Gordon and nailed a difficult fadeaway jumper over Davis' 7'5 wingspan. Porter Jr.'s motor never quits. He's a nightmare to contain away from the ball because he never stops moving. This is like prime Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson-type stuff.
Porter Jr.'s outrageous shot-making made it a 15-point game, and the Nuggets never looked back. Now, the Lakers are looking at a 3-0 deficit. That's a mountain that's never been climbed before.
Gordon shouldered the load in the first three-quarters of Denver's Game 3 victory, and then a vintage "Porter Quarter" got the job done.
"These guys are so good that I'm playing with. Jamal, Joker, MPJ, and KCP. They demand so much attention on the offensive side that if you don't send an extra man, they're gonna torture you," Gordon said.