Last Night In The NBA: We Officially Have Our First Game 7

Good morning everybody happy Friday and welcome back to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we bring you up to speed on everything that went down from the night before in the Association. We had just one closeout game on the schedule and with the NHL Playoffs and the NFL Draft going on at basically the same time, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t see what went down in San Antonio. I think we can all agree that for the most part this first round has been without a ton of drama, really all that’s left are the Clippers/Warriors and this Spurs/Nuggets series. Every other series was wrapped up in 5 games or less, so the fact that we are officially getting a Game 7 is the perfect way to close things out before the real fun starts in round 2. If you were too busy watching the other stuff last night and missed the action, here’s what happened.

(2) Denver Nuggets 103 vs (7) San Antonio Spurs 120

Don’t let the final score fool you, this was actually a pretty damn close game for essentially 75% of the way through. Despite their brutal history in this building, the Nuggets did manage to win Game 4 and it looked like maybe they got the monkey off their back and after also winning Game 5 certainly looked to be in the drivers seat of this series. But the biggest question surrounding these Nuggets is still a factor, and that is can they overcome their inexperience and youth to finally kill something that for years has proven really doesn’t die. When you go into the Spurs building you basically have to be perfect to win, they were 32-9 during the regular season and it became very clear that every Nugget not named Nikola Jokic may have been a little nervous.

As a team they only shot 24% from deep which is a problem since that’s a huge part of how the Nuggets operate offensively, and while Jokic put up one if not the best postseason performance in Nuggets franchise history

It wasn’t enough. The other Nuggets starters were solid, not bad by any stretch

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and the fact is this was a two possession game heading into the fourth quarter. The Nuggets fell apart in the fourth and that’s why we’re seeing this series continue, but you also cannot overlook how dreadful the second unit was. Just 5-21 as a group they got next to nothing from main rotation guys and that’s what sometimes happens on the road with inexperienced players.

I wouldn’t get on the Nuggets too much for not closing this game out, it’s the fucking Spurs at home after all. But now we see if the Nuggets youth can tackle another challenge of a Game 7. Those are usually a toss up, and while it’ll help that DEN will be at home, we’ve seen them go cold shooting in that building before. It’s pretty simple, if the bench gives them anything and as a team they make their average in threes, they’ll advance.

For SA, it makes no sense how the Spurs are able to  survive like this, it’s not as if any of the guys on this team were part of those Spurs teams that have dominated for the last 20 years, but each and every year they prove to be a brutally tough out. They came out firing in Game 6, shot 67% to open and had two great performances from their stars when they needed them the most

Those two set the tone, and as a team the rest of the Spurs followed suit. They shot 57/41% for the game and had only 7 TOs, and you’re not being the Spurs at home with that sort of production I don’t care who you are. Add in a productive Rudy Gay off the bench who outscored the entire Nuggets second unit by himself

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and this looked like the team filled with veterans who were not going to let the possibility of elimination freak them out. They came out and started the fourth quarter on a 22-4 run that essentially iced it, and now we get to see what they can do in a Game 7 in what’s going to be a pretty hostile environment. We’ve seen them already win in that building, and as crazy as it sounds it wouldn’t shock me to see the Spurs go into the Pepsi Center and shock everybody. That’s basically been this team’s identity all year, the only thing to remember is that the road was not kind to these Spurs during the regular season. They were just 16-25 away from home during the year, so your guess is as good as any as to what team is going to show up.

And that’s it! You’re now all caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with another closeout game in LA, and if that series has told us anything you’re going to want to make sure to watch it. Have a great Friday!