What looked like a madness is perhaps becoming a master stroke. When Josh Kroenke, the owner of the Nuggets, announced on April 8 the dismissal of Mike Malone the most victorious coach in the history of the franchise, Denver seemed to be doomed to a difficult end of the season despite the qualification in the playoffs. Less than a month later, this decision gave a boost to the 2023 champion, who went to look for his qualification for Game 7 after a hard series against the Clippers and the first meeting of the conference semi-final on the Thunder prosecution.
Frequently abused, sometimes struggling against supposed teams weaker or in the end of the knife match like the one against the Wolves spoiled in early April, the Nuggets seemed to have lost the thread of their season. Four consecutive defeats to start April, an average balance sheet of 8-7 in March in a western conference with huge density …
Everything seemed together for a spectacular road trip. Instead, Denver is sublimated in these final stages, capable of getting out of perilous situations.
No frying on the line in nuggets
Game 4 and the victory on a tap at the Aaron Gordon buzzer in Los Angeles to equalize after being 34 points two days earlier. Game 7 at home against these same clippers, off for a success in total control. Then last night, a stunning victory with the Thunder and its 68 regular season victories surprised by a shot from Aaron Gordon less than three seconds from the end. Rather than sinking into the disaster, the nuggets display a remarkable rebound art in the face of adversity.
« What makes the difference? Our calm, our belief in victory whatever the circumstances Aaron Gordon assured on Monday after the TNT channel match. Those on Monday were clearly not in their favor, 48 hours after validating their ticket for the conference semi-finals, facing a team of OKC who had had more than a week to prepare for this deadline.
Led 14 points, Denver has never let this match spin, and attributes this success to a key element: communication. “” We have no bad character in this team ” Estem Aaron Gordon. “We know how to take responsibility for each other. We have very intelligent players and with a lot of personality in this locker room. When we talk, it comes from experience, our knowledge of each other, and from our compassion with each other. »
« Each other“, This group found in a group is also highlighted by coach David Adelman at a press conference. “” I have not seen anything where they said, ‘we’re going to lose that match.’ Communication on the bench was not to bring responsibility for someone else, it was only on how you could do things better. What can we do better on oppositions after a switch? What can we do better on Shai? Even by being led by I don’t know how many points with a few minutes to play, when you have that, that you only talk about how you can win this match and not everything that goes from the way, you give yourself a chance to win. We did it, the ball has rebounded on our side, we had an opportunity and Aaron put it inside. »
-David Adelman, calm after the storm
David Adelman is one of the great craftsmen of this change of course and this return to emotional stability in the ranks of Denver. The former assistant from Mike Malone receives praise from his players, who salute her personality, and how she infused the whole group. “” We have great confidence in ‘da’ and he knows what he does in attack “Jamal Murray told TNT. “” He is always quiet, serene, calm. He did a great job not just in playoffs, but to manage the whole situation, the whole noise around us. He is great in his way of talking to us collectively. »
The son of former coach Rick Adelman, in charge of attacking the team under Mike Malone, believes that his workforce makes him the same, far from the image of a group that would have dropped, as could be feared when his former boss leaves. “” This allows you to focus on your game patterns. You don’t need to get into the locker room and bring this group together in difficult times, they already do it. They already have this conversation ‘keeps their head high, continues to play your game’. I know it looks like a shot but it is not one. This room, the noisy audience … when you have Nikola Jokic with the intensity of this match that arrives on the bench, the guys calm, and calm other players. You need that. We don’t put the egos forward. I am super proud of the players. »
Denver is not satisfied
The shooting of Aaron Gordon will remain the decisive action of this game 1. Several times earlier in the meeting, the nuggets went close to returning to the score, before taking a new series of the Thunder, repulsive their attempt at Comeback. But their conviction to be capable of it, as since the start of these playoffs, especially by being back to the wall.
« It would have been really easy to come in front of you and to say that we played a seventh game on Saturday evening, that we have all the excuses of the world, that we are super tired: no “Said David Adelman in a fiery speech of winner. “” These are the playoffs. You have a number of opportunities. I never felt the players say to each other, ‘we replay in two days, we can always return to 1-1’. No. This is our opportunity this evening. You have to live in the present, in these moments. These matches are so difficult to win, so when you put yourself in this situation as we did, do not waste your energy. Stay focused on what you are trying to do. And it was because we did that that we never gave up the thread of the match. It gave the impression a few times, it was close. The Thunder was about to distance itself, which they often do. The watchword for me is our mentality. »
With a first advantage of the chip, but above all an almost unshakeable faith in them, these nuggets will be a real size challenge for OKC, which no longer really has the right to make mistakes. Especially since the recidivist hero Aaron Gordon warns: ” I am delighted that we have shown our mind, our tenacity, but I do not satisfy it« .
