The Nuggets got an unlikely win on Monday night, bouncing back with no rest to defeat the Western-Conference-leading Thunder, 140-127. Aaron Gordon was held out with a calf injury he suffered on Sunday and Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were on the injury report, but played through their pain.
Jokic was superb with 35 points, 18 rebounds, and 8 assists on 15/20 shooting while Murray added 34 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Nuggets’ role players also played great, especially shooting as Denver enjoyed one of their better three-point shooting nights of the entire season.
Michael Porter Jr. shot 3/6 from three, Christian Braun went 2/5, Russell Westbrook hit 3/5, Jalen Pickett added 2/3, and Peyton Watson went a perfect 4/4 from long range. It was a shooting masterclass from the whole team as they made 18/32 from deep, a ridiculous 56.3%, the worst the Thunder defense has allowed all season.
With their injuries and lack of rest, the Nuggets came into this potential WCF preview as heavy underdogs. Their backs were against the wall and it seemed like it would have been easy to mail this one in after Sunday’s disheartening loss. But maybe their big bounce-back win shouldn’t come as a surprise after all.
Nuggets improve to 12-1 on second night of back-to-backs
Shockingly, and almost inexplicably, the Nuggets have actually played their best on short rest, as they’re now 12-1 on the second leg of back-to-backs. It’s extremely odd, especially for a veteran-laden team that’s very short on depth.
But for whatever reason, these adverse rest situations bring out the best in the team and they are able to rally around their circumstances and pull out unlikely wins over and over again. At this point, perhaps it should be baked into expectations as the 13-game sample size is big enough that this seems like more than a fluke or luck.
The team obviously gets motivated when the chips are down, as evidenced by Jokic telling Michael Malone “Hell no” when the coach brought up the idea of Jokic resting on Monday night. The team has great leaders who have won a championship and hold everyone accountable.
When Jokic approaches these games with that kind of attitude and intensity, it’s hard for the rest of his teammates not to fall in line. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, there are no back-to-backs once the playoffs start. They have three more back-to-backs this season and a chance to finish the season an absurd 15-1 in such circumstances.