Denver’s two-man game
Not one or the other, but a unified machine. The Nuggets needed a spark after the lifeless ending to Game 2. While starters Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shot a combined 3 for 12 in the first half, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray worked their magic. Pick-and-rolls, pick-and-pops, dribble handoffs, fake handoffs. Their two-man game, as good as any in the league, supplied in the halfcourt while the Nuggets struggled to get early stops and subsequently couldn’t get in transition. Jokic and Murray combined for 16 of Denver’s first 18 points (eight each) and 16 of the team’s first 23 shots.