Spurs-Denver Nuggets first-round playoff series at a glance
(Nuggets win series 4-3)
Game 1: Spurs 101, Nuggets 96, Saturday, Denver
Game 2: Nuggets 114, Spurs 105, Tuesday, Denver
Game 3: Spurs 118, Nuggets 108, Thursday, San Antonio
Game 4: Nuggets 117, Spurs 103, Saturday, San Antonio
Game 5: Nuggets 108, Spurs 90, Tuesday, Denver
Game 6: Spurs 120, Nuggets 103, Thursday, San Antonio
Game 7: Nuggets 90, Spurs 86, Saturday, Denver
Feeling good about their chances of beating the Nuggets in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series, the Spurs packed extra clothes before flying to the Mile High City on Friday.
“We're packing for a week,” forward Rudy Gay said. “We're trying to go to Portland after this. We're confident and we're ready to go."
Unfortunately for the Silver and Black, they didn't pack enough offense to beat the fired-up Nuggets in the decisive game of the series Saturday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
The Spurs cut a 17-point deficit to two with less than a minute left, but the Nuggets hung on and pulled out a 90-86 win to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against Portland.
"It's always disappointing to lose, but you have to congratulate the Nuggets," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "(Denver coach) Michael Malone did a great job, he and his staff, putting a group together.
"They've been together a few years now and it's starting to show. There's a reason why they're second in the West. So, congratulations to those guys. I thought they did a great job . . . I'm really happy for them in a strange sort of way."
The Nuggets, seeded No. 2 in the West playoffs, will host the No. 3 Trail Blazers in Game 1 on Monday night.
The Silver and Black never led and they trailed by double digits for most of the game before mounting a furious rally.
"We dug ourselves a big hole, but we kept fighting to the end," point guard Derrick White said.
Popovich praised his players after the game and talked about how far they came during a season of transition for the team.
"They did a good job," Popovich said. "I think that they hung together real well. They just played the second seed and played them 11 times . . . 5-6 in those 11 games. So they've done well for themselves, having never played with each other a minute before this season.
"Some of the young kids that developed in the D League (G League now) came up and did a good job during the season. I think they were really quick to learn a new system and learn about each other as the season progressed."
The Spurs finished the regular season 48-34 and made the playoffs for an NBA-record tying 22nd consecutive year. They entered the postseason as the West's No. 7 seed.
Trailing by 69-52 with 3:29 left in the third quarter, the Silver and Black cut the deficit to two with less than a minute left before the rally fell just short.
San Antonio guard Bryn Forbes scored on a breakaway dunk to trim the Nuggets' lead to 88-86 with 52.2 seconds left. After Denver responded with a basket by Jamal Murray that all but sealed the win with 36.8 seconds remaining, Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan's finger-roll layup was blocked by Torrey Craig eight seconds later. That, for all intents and purposes, was the ballgame.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic rebounded DeRozan's blocked shot with 25.6 seconds left and passed to Murray. Guarded by Patty Mills, Murray passed the ball back to Jokic, who was guarded by Aldridge out in the perimeter, with about 20 seconds remaining.
Murray wound up missing a three-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining, and DeRozan rebounded with one second left. The Silver and Black inexplicably did not foul to stop the clock, even though Popovich frantically called for a foul.
"Well, obviously, he didn't hear anybody because he didn't foul," Popovich said. It wasn't clear whether Popovich was referring to Mills or Aldridge.
"LA (Aldridge) was far up on the key," DeRozan said. "I don't know if they heard him (Popovich)."
The Nuggets, who had missed the playoffs each of the past six seasons, got past the first round for the time since reaching the 2009 Western Conference finals. The Nuggets had lost in the opening round of the playoffs nine times in their last 10 appearances, including the last four in a row.
San Antonio fell in the first round for the second straight year, a first in the Popovich era.
Gay came off the bench and led the Spurs' scoring with 21 points, and DeRozan and Forbes finished with 19 each. Forbes was the Silver and Black's most consistent shooter, hitting 7 of 11 attempts, including 3 of 4 from the three-point line.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, rounded out San Antonio's double-figure scoring. DeRozan, who was 7 of 21 from the field after starting out 0 of 8, and Aldridge (6 of 16) never got untracked after combining for 51 points on 22-of-34 shooting in Game 6.
The Silver and Black struggled mightily on offense for most of the game Saturday night, shooting 36.5 percent overall (31-85) and 26.1 percent (6-23) from the three-point line. They shot a franchise-low 22.2 percent (10-45) and made only 1 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half.
"We were more aggressive in the second half, not settling so much for jump shots," DeRozan said, referring to the team. "I think that's what killed us. We couldn't make a shot in the first quarter. That kind of hurt us, but we fought. The fight we had in the second half, if we could have had that the first half, I think we have a better chance of winning."
Jokic led Denver with a triple-double, finishing with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Murray scored 19 points and Paul Millsap and Gary Harris each finished with 10.
The Nuggets also had tough sledding on offense, making just 35 of 88 field goal attempts for 39.8 percent and shooting 10 percent (2-20) from the three-point line.
"Tonight was an odd game," Popovich said. "I thought both teams set basketball back in the first half. I'm surprised people stayed. You might want to go home and get a glass of wine and watch it on TV. But it got better. The best part for us was we hung in there. I thought we played aggressively enough to win for about a quarter and a half.
"We just didn't have the same pace and aggressiveness for about two and a half quarters, and finally got it and made it a basketball game. That's disappointing but nice to see that the group didn't hang their heads and came back and had an opportunity."
Down 47-34 at the half, the Spurs were stone cold in the first two quarters. Aldridge and DeRozan went a combined 3 of 18 for 10 points in the first half. DeRozan was 1 of 10 for four points and Aldridge went 2 of 8 for six.
The Nuggets shot 40 percent overall (18-45) and 8.3 percent (1-12) from beyond the arc in the first half. Jokic led all scorers with 19 points.
Denver led 23-13 after one quarter. The 13 points were a season low for the Spurs, who made only 5 of 24 shots (20.8) percent and were 0 of 4 from long distance.
