DENVER – As the shock of blowing a 20-point lead in Game 7 set in, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone repeated what has become something of an underlying mantra for his talented but thinly-mannered team.
“I consider the San Antonio Spurs a dynasty, and they’ve never won back-to-back,” Malone said, praising the franchise that won NBA titles every two years between 2003 and 2007.
The Nuggets will have to try to follow that formula now that their quest to become the first repeat champion since Golden State in 2018 came to an insufferable end Sunday night with a 98-90 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and their star in rise Anthony Edwards.
Jamal Murray bounced back from an elbow injury and a dismal Game 6 with 35 points and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic had 34 points and 19 rebounds.
The duo combined for 32 points in the second half, but got just five points from their supporting cast — a 3-pointer from Michael Porter Jr. and a bucket from Christian Braun, as the Wolves won for the third time in four games at Ball Arena .
Porter, in particular, was stifled by Minnesota’s excellent defense. After averaging 22.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, MPJ was left with 11.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in the second round.
Porter blamed himself for the Nuggets making summer vacation plans earlier than expected.
“There are a lot of things we could have done differently as a team,” Porter said. “But I know that if I had done my part, we would have won this series. And I have to live with that.”
Porter entered these playoffs with a heavy heart after one brother was sentenced to six years in prison for vehicular homicide and another brother was banned from the NBA for life for his role in a gambling scandal.
“I’m not going to sit here and act like this isn’t a burden and like I’m not thinking about it all day, every day,” Porter said. “But that’s still no excuse. I’m a better player than I played in this series. I’m a better shooter than I shot in this series. In the NBA, you have to be able to separate the off-court stuff from the on-court stuff.”
Had he been able to handle it better — not to mention the Wolves’ strong defense — Porter argues the Nuggets would be the ones preparing to host the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals this week instead of Minnesota.
Instead, they are the fifth consecutive NBA champion to fail to advance past the second round in their quest to defend their title.
“We knew it was difficult,” Malone said. “It was something I talked about with our team at training camp. The last team to do that was the 2017-18 Warriors and with the rules as they are now, I think it will be increasingly difficult to repeat as champions.”
After losing key veterans Bruce Brown and Jeff Green in free agency following the franchise’s first NBA title last summer, general manager Calvin Booth’s options to restock the team have been limited by new rules in the collective bargaining agreement that make more difficult for high-priced teams such as the Nuggets to keep their core intact and also acquire veteran free agents.
Denver’s starting five earned $151.6 million this season, well above the $136 million salary cap before even accounting for the rest of the roster. So instead of restocking experienced veterans, the Nuggets decided to give minutes to young players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson while working on rookies Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson.
Meanwhile, all of their pursuers have improved, mostly through trades and free agency signings. Nine of the Western Conference’s top 10 teams have won more games this season than they did a year ago, including the Nuggets, who tied a franchise record with 57 wins, four more than a year ago but still fell from No. 1. 1 seed to #2.
Braun came on strong down the stretch and was a key player off the bench in the playoffs. Watson’s defensive prowess led to spectacular stretches, but he didn’t earn Malone’s trust enough to be part of the playoff rotation.
Veterans Justin Holliday, Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan had cameos in the postseason, while Strawther, Pickett and Hunter logged limited minutes against Minnesota.
The biggest difference in the series was Minnesota’s top bench, featuring Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid, along with Kyle Anderson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Denver’s starters outscored Minnesota’s starters (565-551) in the series, but Minnesota’s reserves outscored Denver’s by an impressive 50 points – 168-118.
The Nuggets simply couldn’t resist the NBA’s trend of producing a new champion every year since 2019. Being hunted, noted Aaron Gordon, “is exhausting,” and Jokic worked so many grueling minutes against the Wolves’ three-center rotation that he thought to clone yourself.
Jokic said he will have to think hard about preparing for Serbia at the Paris Olympics this summer. But Murray, who has suffered injuries to his knees, calves, ankles, shins and elbows this season, missing 23 games, said he will join Team Canada.
Furthermore, Murray is already looking to win the NBA title again next season.
“It’s being the hunter again,” he said.
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