The Nuggets' defensive woes this season are well-documented. They're bad on defense, sure, but they have Aaron Gordon back and healthy, and he showed in the Nuggets' 136-134 overtime win over the Spurs why that alone makes him the Nuggets ace in the hole, and it makes the Nuggets a team nobody wants to see in the playoffs.
The Nuggets entered the final five minutes of the game down four points, and Victor Wembanyama had 30 points for the Spurs coming into the clutch. But the Nuggets deployed Gordon on Wemby, and Gordon shut him down.
Wemby finished with just four points over the game's next 10 minutes, and Gordon showed everyone what a difference maker on defense he is for the Nuggets.
Gordon has played in just 34 of the Nuggets' 78 games, missing chunks of the season with a hamstring injury, but when he's been healthy and on the floor, he's been the Nuggets' best defensive player. Gordon has a defensive rating of 110.6 in games he has started, much lower than Nikola Jokic's 115.3 across his 62 starts.
Gordon brings the aura and the vibes to the Nuggets
Gordon has such a great aura that Cam Johnson called Gordon the "aura curator." AG agreed, "I curate the vibes, man. I bring the vibes." And does he ever.
The swagger Gordon showed in defending Wemby was a fantastic sight to see. Wembanyama couldn't budge AG, who has a lower center of gravity and more strength than the MVP candidate.
Every stop Gordon got for the Nuggets built more confidence. Nuggets fans were standing up at home with each stop, because we saw something that's been missing most of the season. Stand-up defense and stops that allowed the Nuggets to crawl back and get another clutch win.
AG kept Wembanyama under control
The Nuggets didn't have AG on Wemby for the entire game, but he did defend him the second-most times in half-court possessions this season, 44 possessions worth. Wemby scored just 12 points with Gordon on him. Gordon neutralized him.
And it's that defensive difference the Nuggets have been missing. Gordon is the glue of the team, farming his aura out. That you could feel what was building at the end of the game, that Nuggets fans knew AG was going up on Wemby, and we had a chance, was a moment we've been waiting for all season.
The Nuggets are now 22-19 in clutch games on the year, and 7-3 since the start of March. Two of those clutch games were buzzer beaters by MVP candidates.
With Gordon's defense and vibes, and the Nuggets' eight-game winning streak, they're well poised to enter the playoffs on the highest note of the year. The vibes are high, AG.