Does the Blazers comeback prove the Nuggets are contenders again?

0.031 - 22.753 Adam Mares

Let's go to the other game I want to talk about real quick, which is the Nuggets getting a comeback win over the Blazers. Listen to this, Waz. 137-132, game went to overtime. Two straight games, Denver goes to overtime. Denver got outscored by 39 points from the three-point line. The Blazers set a franchise record, not a season record, a franchise record 25 made threes on 48% shooting.

23.093 - 44.573 Adam Mares

They outscored Denver from the free throw line, and yet Denver still gets the win. And it's because their offense right now in the fourth quarter, two games in a row, does not miss. They were down, I think, 18 points in the fourth. And when it came down to clutch time, Denver scored every time down court. It goes to overtime every single time down. I haven't believed in Denver all year.

44.853 - 47.115 Adam Mares

I believed in them a lot coming in. It's been a weird one. Injuries.

47.135 - 66.937 Adam Mares

You've been texting me telling me to act like a man, basically. That's what you're saying. I get a text. I'm like, all right, man. Chill. But... The reason is because in the clutch this year, and some of it's been injury, this is what Denver is. They just, when it's time to go, they go. And Denver has hit the Nas button a couple times in the middle of the year, and it didn't fire.

67.337 - 75.047 Adam Mares

And so I'm like, I don't know, maybe something's up. But here we are at the end of the year, and when it comes to clutch time right now, I just am like, they're going to score every time. So if they're within six points, game's over.

75.948 - 88.462 Big Wos

Yeah, again, Denver's offense to me is just metronome-like. And, you know, it's crazy because... All this MVP chatter and, you know, obviously I think Shea's the MVP.

88.542 - 111.915 Big Wos

I think the Wemby thing was a bit overstated. Just a little bit. Not crazy, but just a little overstated. But the reality is, Adam, before Jokic, somebody crashed into his freaking leg. He was having the best offensive season in the history of our lives. In the history of the sport. Y'all can go look that up. This guy was having...

111.895 - 136.738 Big Wos

for two and a half months, the best offensive season ever in NBA history. That's what he was doing. And then he got hurt. And I think when he came back, he just wasn't as good. Again, the level being the stratosphere, right? And so I think he's coming back to being closer to that, though, now. Whereas, like,

137.022 - 161.362 Big Wos

I think they were playing Utah, man. Utah turned Jokic over into double digits. And I was like, come on, man. What the hell is going on out here? Because, you know, and I watched you guys on All-NBA talk about the Spurs game where it's like they're playing either the best or the second best defense in the NBA. Jokic has zero turnovers. So that's what I mean, like. Look, I like Will Hardy.

161.522 - 179.9 Big Wos

I like Utah's pieces. They should never turn Nikola Jokic over 10 times. That's not a thing. And so, yeah, I'll never stop believing in the Nuggets offense. Like, that's just, to me, it's just a fact of life. They're going to be excellent against whoever the opponent is. To me, it's the defense, man.

179.92 - 200.79 Big Wos

Can you be, like, adequate? We're not asking you to be world beaters. Be adequate. And we've seen it in moments. They can dial it up to be adequate enough. It just felt like, you know, for a month and change stretch with Jokic where guys were just attacking him. And it was just like he just clearly was not going to put extra effort into whatever.

200.911 - 206.5 Big Wos

It's just like, all right, man, I'm going to concede a shot. And y'all figure it out.

206.733 - 222.566 Adam Mares

Yeah. To me, it comes down to Aaron Gordon's health. And he's still on a minute restriction. When you throw Jokic, Murray, and Aaron Gordon on the court together, right now they're a plus 20 net rating on the season. On a pretty good sample size. And I'm just looking at that, and I'm like, that's the Nuggets.

222.586 - 244.161 Adam Mares

Those three just haven't been together as much as usually, and that's really the difference. But when they are together... All boxes are checked. Like, you could put almost any other spare parts around it, but all boxes are checked. AG had three clutch threes last night in the game. His best comp to me is Andre Iguodala. Not because they play the same style. They're different versions of it.

244.181 - 245.683 Big Wos

They function in the same role, though.

245.663 - 263.91 Adam Mares

But it's just like they literally could do so many different things, and they know exactly which ones are needed at which time, and they execute it perfectly. Iggy completed the death lineup. Aaron Gordon completes the duo that is Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. And right now they're kind of peaking. Nuggets are on a nine-game win streak.

268.216 - 272.262 Adam Mares

Isn't that a crazy stat? Like the Hawks have an 11-game win streak this year.

272.242 - 302.029 Big Wos

Again, that just speaks to the general attitude towards the regular season that the Nuggets tend to take. It's just like they've never had... Because if you remember, man, the 73-win Warriors, what was so special about them is that they just didn't take nights off. There was no low-effort nights. They were like, no, we're trying to...

302.667 - 307.193 Big Wos

make history here, and some people are like, well, that cost them the finals. I tend to not believe that, honestly.