The Thunder cruised past the Timberwolves on Wednesday night to reach the NBA Finals after a five-game beatdown, and yet, Nikola Jokic was one of the biggest stories. Somehow, one of the biggest takeaways from watching this OKC team dismantle the Wolves was how impressive it was that Jokic and the Nuggets were able to push the Thunder to Game 7 and the brink of elimination.
The Nuggets limped into the playoffs fresh off of firing their GM and head coach in the final week of the regular season. They were led by an interim coach with no NBA head coaching experience, who essentially had six reliable players at his disposal.
Michael Porter Jr. quickly suffered a shoulder injury, Russell Westbrook was dealing with an injured right hand that required surgery, Aaron Gordon was fighting calf issues all season that eventually caught up with him, the roster had no functional depth, 3-point shooting, or lockdown defenders.
And still, despite all that, Nikola Jokic was almost able to carry this team to an incredible second-round upset over this juggernaut Thunder team that may go down as one of the best of all time. Jokic genuinely had SGA and OKC on the ropes, and we may not have fully appreciated how incredible an accomplishment that was.
Nuggets closer to title contention than it seems
This should also be a great sign for the Nuggets as an organization to see that this banged-up Denver squad may have been the second-best team in the league. Sure, it looks like this OKC will be dominant for years to come, but we said the same about the Celtics a year ago, and our own Nuggets the year before that.
Things change quickly in the NBA, and the title has never been up for grabs more than in this current era. The Nuggets have the best player in the world, and even with a questionable supporting cast, they almost beat the best team in the league in a seven-game series.
They can’t rely on that knowledge, but it should show that the team is not far off. They need to nail this offseason, bringing in some solid veterans who can add depth, space the floor, and play defense. But with a little deeper bench and a full offseason under David Adelman, this team could very quickly be back in the mix for a championship next season.
The front office certainly shouldn’t overreact to one series and a small sample size, but it’s fair to be encouraged. The Nuggets got some bad luck and ran into an all-time team. It happens. But maybe we should pump the brakes on the idea of blowing up this core just yet.