Joker dices chokers, Nuggets advance
Ryen Rusillo: We were watching a team walk to its own funeral.
Bills Simmons: We need a better word than choke…it’s almost like gaak. But you know it when you see it.
The Denver Nuggets really should not have shown up tonight. They had managed to come back from a 3-1 deficit to tie their playoff series against the mighty Clippers, but they were clearly outclassed. Built on modern lines, the Clippers have two long MVP-level wings in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and a 21st century switchable big, Montreal Harrell, who was named 6th Man of the Year. Full of stars and ten-deep, the roster was built to win immediately, with owner Steve Ballmer trading five years’ worth of draft picks to secure the services of Leonard and George for this year and next.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ best player is a now-obsolete 7-foot center, the doughy European passer, Nikola “The Joker” Jokic. The next-best man is Jamal Murray, a guard who sometimes gets hot and is not a factor on defense. Actually, none of the Nuggets are a factor on defense. So they figured to be an easy out tonight. Vegas had the Clippers as seven-point favorites.
And that’s why they play the games. Nuggets win, 104-89.
Unidentified bettor following the game on his car radio
This is the “are you shitting me?!” series of the decade. The Nuggets came back from a 3-1 deficit, put away the Clippers and advanced to the Conference Finals. For the third game in a row the Nuggets dominated the second half (+67 in the second half of those three games). Jokic pulled down 22 rebounds, while the high man on the Clippers had…lets see…ah, here it is: six. Jokic had 13 assists, more than any two Clippers, and they were not subtle: a pass for a reverse layup in traffic, a blind backward pass to Murray under the hoop, a beautiful bounce to Torrey Craig on the fast break. He was a joker in every sense of the word:
Full of surprises
Supervillain
Wild card
Spoiler
And: laughing at you. “No one wants us here,” he smiled.
Meanwhile Murray dropped 40 points on one of the best defenses in the NBA, shooting 6-13 (46%) from three point range, . Leonard and George - combined salary: $66 million - teamed up for 24 on 10-38 shooting.
This is unprecedented, and the karmic consequences are incalculable. To sum up:
In 74 years, no NBA team has won two consecutive series after trailing 3-1. The Nuggets just did.
There have only been 13 3-1 comebacks in the history of the NBA playoffs. Clippers coach Doc Rivers has been on the wrong end of three of them.
The Los Angeles Clippers franchise still has never made it to the conference finals.
Perhaps now would be an appropriate time to pause and acknowledge the anguish of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, whose management group did everything possible to make the team a force to be reckoned with. They got Jerry West! They got Kawhi Leonard and Paul George! They did load management! And their wages are: regret, remorse, ridicule - and five years of lost draft picks.
Ballmer agonistes
So the Nuggets can celebrate one of the greatest upsets in NBA playoff history, and deliver some enjoyable payback to all who doubted them:
Up next: the Lakers, an LA team anchored by two superstars, considered by sophisticated analysts and bettors to be a lock to win the championship. The Clippers are just happy to be here. They couldn’t do it again…. could they?
