Nuggets must decide if this year is special, or like so many past letdowns

Do you want to be different, or do you want to be like everyone else?

That’s the question the 2023 Nuggets face, suddenly in a fight for their playoff lives in Round 2 against the Suns.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not after Denver took a 2-0 series lead, winning Games 1 and 2 in dramatically different ways, but leaving Phoenix looking like they had no answer.

Then a trip to the desert over the weekend changed everything.

The Nuggets had their chances in Games 3 and 4. Each came down to the wire. And both times Denver just couldn’t make the big shot while the Suns did. Suddenly, we’re here. It’s a best-of-three series with the winner perhaps the favorite to take home the NBA title, the loser heading on vacation.

And this is when you sense the whole city of Denver start to get nervous. We’ve seen this movie before, just to watch the credits play before any trophy gets lifted.

The most recent example is the 2020 Western Conference Finals in the COVID “bubble” in Orlando. It looked like the Nuggets could compete with — and even beat — the Lakers. And then Anthony Davis hit a rip-your-heart-out buzzer beater and everything changed. Denver bowed out in a quick five games.

But let’s be honest, those games were glorified scrimmages. It gave us all something to do when we were trapped in our houses, bored on our couches in the early stages of a pandemic. It was fun, but it might not have been the most “real” basketball. There were no fans and no homecourt advantage to speak of.

That wasn’t the case in 2009. Far from it.

It’s the most basketball crazy I’ve seen this city in my lifetime.

The Nuggets rolled through New Orleans and Dallas in the first two rounds, each in five games, to set up a showdown with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The winner would ultimately face the relatively anonymous Orlando Magic. Whoever took the series was going to win the whole thing.

You know how it went down. Denver had more than a chance, they had a golden opportunity. And they blew it. The Nuggets failed to get the ball inbounds twice in pivotal moments and ultimately fell in six games. The Lakers had no problem with the Magic and captured another championship.

There are other examples in Nuggets history when this team could’ve won it all. 1978 and 1985 will come to mind for a lot of folks. Those were before my time, but I’m sure they hurt all the same.

That’s why this year’s team must decide if they’re going to be special. Will they be another footnote of heartbreak in Denver’s tortured hoops history? Or will they be the team that finally breaks through and delivers us a long awaited parade? Well, that’s up to them, not us.

Can Jamal Murray play more consistent basketball and not get “sticky fingers” late in the game? Will Michael Porter Jr. stop disappearing quarters at a time? Can Aaron Gordon return to the All-Star level we saw during the winter? Is anyone on the bench capable of stepping up and delivering consistent scoring?

They’re all valid questions. Ones that must be answered in satisfactory ways or this season could end as soon as Thursday.

No one’s worried about Nikola Jokic. The two-time MVP is doing his part and continues to play out of his mind. And if Jokic had gotten enough help down in Phoenix, this series could’ve easily been a sweep.

Alas, here we are. The next “biggest” game of the Nuggets’ journey is upon us. Take Game 5 tonight and they’re well on their way to changing the narrative.

Lose, and the coffin is almost shut on another promising season of what could have been.

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