DENVER — The Denver Nuggets didn’t just keep their season alive with their 126-121 Game 4 win. You now see that the warriors are “beatable”.
After being so thoroughly dominated in their first two games that they left San Francisco just trying to keep things together, the Nuggets avoided being swept for the second straight postseason and are now heading to the Bay for a fifth game Area back, confident that they can extend the series even more if they play like they did in Denver.
“There’s no pressure on us,” said point guard Monte Morris, who hit five 3s in the third quarter for 24 points. “I think Game 3 and 4 was our best basketball, how physical we want to be, we showed that.
“If we go back there, we will see that they are beatable. They’re a damn team. But if we play our style of basketball and make it tough and let them see bodies — they’re going to hit hard shots — but we know it, if we play our style of basketball and bring the energy, we’re giving ourselves a chance. And that’s why I think it will be different when we go back.”
The Nuggets return to San Francisco with a coaching staff and key players who know what it takes to land an unlikely comeback. Only 13 times have teams come back from a 3-1 deficit to win. However, the Nuggets did make it in the bubble twice in the 2020 playoffs.
“Obviously, out of any team in the playoffs, we feel happiest when we’re down 3-1,” said head coach Michael Malone. “Can I say we have them right where we want them? no But we live. We live to fight another day.”
Malone, the fans, for the energy they gave his team in Denver in Games 3 and 4, then said the Nuggets will need the same from them for a potential Game 6.
“Thank you to all of our fans and when we come back for Game 6 we need the same thing,” Malone said. When a reporter chuckled, a stubborn Malone replied, “What are you laughing at?”
The Nuggets said winning Game 4 and feeling like they were letting Game 3 slip away after losing a lead with three minutes left gave them confidence. They certainly have a good feeling about the way their superstar is playing. Once again, they got an MVP-like performance from reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic, who received a painful prick in the eye in the first minute of the game, was aggressive from the start and finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Aaron Gordon also had his second straight strong game with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. There was also rookie Bones Hyland, who electrified the home crowd when he hit three 3-pointers from 30 feet or deeper in just over a minute early in the second quarter to give the Nuggets a 17-point lead provide.
Hyland, who is 6ft 2 and weighs 169 pounds, had 15 points and seven assists.
Morris also helped set the tone for the Nuggets with a hard foul on Draymond Green on the rim in the third quarter. The two friends, who grew up in Michigan, barked at each other, but Morris let the Warriors know he and the Nuggets weren’t backing down.
“We’ve got muscles in our hearts,” Hyland said when asked about smaller point guards like himself and Morris flexing muscles.
Hyland said he thinks the Warriors are beatable going into Game 4. When asked if he still believes that, Hyland revealed his growing confidence. “Of course,” Hyland said. “We just proved that out there. We go out there and play basketball in Mile High City, we can beat anyone. I feel like we have a very unguardable team.
Denver had a lot going for it, like Green fouling with 2:05 left and Stephen Curry (33 points) missing four of his 14 free throws – the most he’s ever missed in a game. Still, Golden State managed to erase a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and lead 121-119 with a 1-21 lead.
“The fact that we took the lead with a minute and a half to go speaks for who we are,” said Curry.
With no green to deal with, Jokic hit with a layup to level the game. And after Klay Thompson missed a 3 and Andrew Wiggins missed a putback attempt, Morris hit a floater. Austin Rivers stole an inbounds lob pass from the Warriors before Jokic helped seal the game by finding Will Barton in the corner for a 3 with 8.3 seconds left.
When asked if he’s going to use his experience from the Nuggets’ back-to-back 3-1 comebacks in the bubble against the Jazz and the Clippers in that series, Jokic said, “Absolutely not.”
He knows this is a different series against a much more experienced team: one that says they need to respond to the Nuggets in Game 5 at home on Wednesday.
“We have to go in [Game 5] like it was a must win,” said Thompson, who scored 32 points. “We want to get some rest before the next series and we don’t want to travel back to Denver. We have to come with the attitude that we have to prove something, that it’s a must.”