The Clippers offer the Nuggets a reality check about the playoffs
Mar 2, 2020, 6:31 AM
Last season, it came on Jan. 15. That was the day that hope was crushed.
Heading into the game, everyone was feeling good. The Nuggets sat at 29-13, one of their best starts in years, and they had beaten the defending champions earlier in the season.
Given that the Warriors entered the game at 29-14, a half-game behind Denver in the standings, there was a belief that things had shifted. While perhaps not a changing of the guard in the Western Conference, there was a sense that Golden State was vulnerable.
Then, the game started.
Looking to make a point from the opening tip, the Warriors hung 51 points on the Nuggets in the first quarter, draining shot after shot after shot from nearly every spot on the court. By the end of the game, Golden State had run Denver out of Pepsi Center, rolling to a 142-111 win that wasn’t as close as that score might indicate.
The Nuggets would go on to have a fine season. They’d finish 54-28, earning the No. 2 seed in the West. And they’d advance to Game 7 of the conference semifinals, falling to the Trail Blazers in the decisive game.
While that ending was disappointing, it wasn’t devastating. After that ugly night in January, everyone seemed to know that beating Portland would’ve simply resulted in an inevitable sweep at the hands of Golden State. Following that telltale evening, everyone knew the Nuggets weren’t beating the Warriors in a playoff series.
This season, the same realization happened on Feb. 28.
Sitting at 40-18, Denver rolled into Los Angeles for a showdown with the Clippers enjoying one of their best-ever seasons. They boasted an All-NBA center, were getting contributions from everyone in the rotation and were winning games in improbable fashion. Things were clicking, as the clung to the No. 2 seed in the conference.
Then, the game started.
L.A. smothered the Nuggets from the outset, taking a 10-point lead after the first quarter. It only got worse from there, as a national-television audience watched Denver get run off the court at Staples Center, as the Clippers made a statement about which team is really a title contender.
The optimists will suggest that it was just one game. Technically, they’re right; Denver bounced back yesterday, beating a solid Toronto team at Pepsi Center and climbing back into a tie with Los Angeles for the second seed in the West.
But from a psychological standpoint, it seemed much bigger than one game. It felt more important than a single loss.
The game on Friday night in L.A. carried with it the same type of dread that accompanied that defeat against Golden State a little more than a year ago. It seemed to tell a bigger story.
Everyone wants to believe that this team is different. They want to think that Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and the rest of the Nuggets high-priced stars can answer the bell come playoff time; they want to trust that those players can go toe-to-toe with the star-studded rosters boasted by the Lakers, Clippers and Rockets.
But after Friday night, that once again feels like a hope. It doesn’t seem like something that anyone can count on happening.
In a big game, with the basketball world watching, Denver failed to show up. They were outplayed in every way, shape and form by Los Angeles, dominated from the opening tap.
“If we want to take that next step, we have to show up for games like this and be ready to play,” Monte Morris said after the game. “We got punked.”
His head coach agreed. Michael Malone said the Clippers treated the showdown like a playoff game, while the Nuggets didn’t. That’s a nice way of saying one team took it seriously, while the other thought they could stroll off the bus, lace up their sneakers and compete with one of the best teams in the league.
That’s perhaps the biggest problem with Malone’s team. Denver acts as though they’ve already accomplished something; they carry themselves like a team that has already achieved a goal, rather than one that is scraping and clawing to get to one.
The Nuggets are the underdog. Anyone who doesn’t believe that simply needs to gaze around the rafters at Pepsi Center; there aren’t any championship banners hanging there, highlighting a storied history of success.
Getting to that point isn’t going to be easy. The Lakers and Clippers have the pedigree, with championship-caliber players on their rosters. And both franchises will get the benefit of the doubt come playoff time, as an L.A. team in the NBA Finals is certainly better for business that one from the Mile High City.
So if Denver is going to reverse the trend, if they’re going to do something the franchise has never done, they’re going to have to go take it from the league’s ruling class. They’re going to have to seize their opportunity, willing themselves to victory despite the odds being stacked against them.
On Friday night, they didn’t look like a team that had that kind of mettle. The Nuggets didn’t appear to be a team that was ready to demand anything from anyone.
Instead, they looked like a franchise that was content. They’re happy to be invited to the party. They’re excited to be posting one of the best seasons in franchise history. And they like hanging out with the cool kids.
A year ago, the Warriors showed them they weren’t ready for primetime and the Nuggets didn’t take it to heart. This year, the Clippers did the same thing.
Here’s hoping Denver learns from the lesson.
