To Compete with Elite NBA Teams, Denver Nuggets Had to Reckon with Brutal Truth

Soon enough, Malone, Bowen and then-Nuggets assistant Micah Nori—all neighbors within a few hundred yards of each other—began carpooling to the Pepsi Center facilities, utilizing the HOV lanes to zip past Denver's rush hour delays. "If we got pulled over today," Nori says, "that guy probably would have turned it into a police escort." Malone's Nuggets have, of course, bloomed into a juggernaut. While Los Angeles shot just 10-of-38 over the final two quarters of Game 6, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray helped Denver outscore them 64-35. "We're lucky," says Nuggets president Tim Connelly. How can we try to chart our own course, something we can control a bit more?" Connelly's front office never drafted higher than No. 7 but still netted franchise linchpins in Murray (No. 7) and Jokic (No. 41), plus rotation fulcrums like Gary Harris (No. 19), Michael Porter Jr. The same energy fills routine pickup games between Connelly's front office and Malone's coaching staff. Then Malone's Nuggets silenced the Jazz, holding Utah to just 105.4 points per 100 possessions over the final three games. And now digging out of another 3-1 hole, the Nuggets have largely stalled the Clippers thanks to a 109.5 defensive efficiency throughout these six games against Los Angeles—which would have ranked 14th in the league this year."We rally around each other," Malone told reporters following Game 6's comeback.