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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 3: Jokić and Murray Pop the Bubble

In light of the potential end of the best duo in Nuggets history, let’s remember how Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray established themselves as a duo to be feared after years of living under the radar. Heading into the 2019-20 season, the Nuggets had seemingly turned the corner. In the previous season, the Nuggets had finally established themselves as a real threat after a couple years of being the “nerds’ favourite team”, for lack of a better term. Jokić actually finished 4th in MVP voting in 2019, but I bet you remember Paul George and Joel Embiid’s 2019 seasons before you remember Jokić. Murray on the other hand wasn’t anywhere near MVP discussions. He was 21 and considered one of the best players to not make an all star game, but Victor Oladipo and Kemba Walker were making all star games over him. If you were a hardcore NBA fan, you knew the Nuggets had something. But if you were a casual and you were watching, oh I don’t know, ESPN, then you wouldn’t know what Denver was brewing. Despite their progress as a team, they were heavily overshadowed by the two California-based Goliaths. The Lakers traded for AD to pair him up with LeBron, while the Clippers signed reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and traded for Paul George. It was seen as a formality we would get the Battle of LA in the conference finals. To be fair, that’s how it played out in the regular season, but Denver managed to stay right behind them. Going into the bubble playoffs, they were met by the Utah Jazz. The Jazz had their own big-man-scoring guard duo on the rise, but this series is forever defined by the legendary duel between Jamal Murray and Donavon Mitchell. In all of NBA history, only 8 players have multiple 50-point playoff games in their entire career (keep in mind, this is something LeBron and Kareem have not done). Out of those 8 players, only 5 of them have done it twice in the same playoff run. Of those 5, only 4 have done it in the same series. The first round series between the Jazz and Nuggets in 2020 is the only playoff series ever to contain 2 players who each had multiple 50-point games. Donavon Mitchell put up 57 in a loss in game 1 and 51 in a game 4 win to put the Jazz up 3-1 in the series. Jamal Murray put up 50 in that same game 4 and proceeded to put up 42 and 50 in games 5 and 6 respectively. That’s 47 ppg average over 3 playoff games. Game 7 would be much lower scoring as both Murray and Mitchell struggled mightily, luckily, the Nuggets still had Jokić. Against the reigning DPOY, Jokić put up 30 and 14 on great efficiency and hit the game-winning bucket with less than 30 seconds remaining to complete the 3-1 comeback. The story was great, but now Denver had to deal with the Clippers. As I’m sure you can imagine, LA was a heavy favourite, especially when they built up their own 3-1 lead on the Nuggets. Jokić was having basically no problems, aside from a rough game 1. Murray on the other hand had successfully been contained by the Clippers. With the Lakers dominating the Rockets on the other side, the Battle of LA looked even more inevitable. The Nuggets proceeded to win game 5 on the back of their star duo and contributions from Paul Millsap. Then Jokić exposed Doc Rivers’ horrible defensive game plan (just sticking 1 guy on Jokić) and put up 34, 14 boards and 7 assists z Finally, in game 7, Murray found his game once again. Jokić ran the show, finishing with 16, 22 and 13 while Murray put up 40 to seal up another 3-1 comeback. The 2020 Nuggets became the only team in NBA history to overcome 2 separate 3-1 deficits in the same playoff run and they did it on the back of the Jokić-Murray pairing. A pair that outperformed both Kawhi and George when everybody counted them out. The Nuggets went on to lose to the Lakers in the conference finals in 5, but of course, the Nuggets got their revenge 3 seasons later by sweeping the Lakers in the conference finals on their way to Denver’s first ever championship. 2023 was the crowning achievement for this pairing. 2020 was their ascension. They went from a couple only nerds spoke of in their bedrooms to one that teams woke up in a cold sweat before playing. No matter what happens from here, they will forever be Larry O’Brien Legends whose legacy began in a bubble.

Nuggets

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2020 Nuggets

The 2020 Nuggets are the only team in NBA history to make two 3-1 comebacks in the same season. They came back from 3-1 in the first round against the Jazz, and they came back from 3-1 in the second round against the Clippers. They would end up losing 4-1 to the Lakers in the conference finals.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 11: The Big Ticket and Big Balls

Despite a disappointing season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are undeniably in their best era. It’s the first time ever they have won a playoff series in 3 straight seasons and they have made more conference finals in the last 3 years than they did in the 34 seasons before. I believe it is worth revisiting the 1 season it happened. In 1995, the Timberwolves made their best draft pick in franchise history when they selected Kevin Garnett 5th overall. After a promising rookie season, Garnett quickly established himself as a young star before ascending to superstar in the 2000s. His insane intensity, prodigious defensive IQ and deep toolbox turned him into a nightmare on both ends of the floor. Sadly, because the Timberwolves were poorly ran, they struggled to build a team around KG, until 2004. They finished with 58 wins in the regular season, a franchise record to this day and the 2nd best record in the 03-04 season. Of course the biggest part of that was KG himself. The future Hall-of-Famer averaged career highs in points and rebounds while remaining a top tier defender. However, it was the supporting cast that helped the team finally ascend and it all happened thanks to 2 trades to acquire veteran Sam Cassell and the erratic Latrel Sprewell. Garnett, Cassell and Sprewell formed a formidable trio. Them along with shooting from Wally Szczerbiak and Fred Hoiburg and defense from Micheal Olowokandi made the Timberwolves a real threat. Now it was time to prove it. In the first round, the 1st seed Timberwolves faced rookie Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. The Wolves chewed them up, spit them out and beat them in 5. Carmelo had averaged 21 points per game in the regular season and the Timberwolves held him to 15 on horrific 32% shooting. Nevertheless, this series included a 40-piece from Sam Cassell to win game 1 and a 31-point game from Sprewell to win game 2 while KG averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds throughout the series. The trio was locked in. In round 2, the Wolves met the Sacramento Kings. Forget their reputation today, back then they were one of the very best teams, often thought of as the cream of the crop in the West alongside the Lakers and Spurs. They boasted a loaded starting lineup that included Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and the man that made it all work, Chris Webber. Garnett would be tasked with shutting down Webber. Sam Cassell put up another 40-point game in game 1 of this series, but the Kings managed to overcome it and steal a 1-0 lead. The Wolves would come back and get game 2 behind Garnett’s 28 points. After a hard-fought series, it all came down to game 7. Heading into the 4th quarter of that game, the Wolves clung to a 2-point lead thanks to a Sam Cassell 3. After a few minutes, the Big Ticket took over. He proceeded to score Minnesota’s next 13 points. It culminated with a 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 7 and then a block on Webber to keep that lead. It came down to the last possession. Kings had the ball, down 3. Garnett blocked Brad Miller’s layup attempt and Webber missed a 3 to clinch Minnesota’s first conference finals appearance. KG finished game 7 with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals in a legendary performance. He is 1 of just 7 players to ever have a 30-20 game in a game 7 and the only one to do it in the 21st century. In the conference finals, the Wolves ran into the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. This was the infamous Kobe-Shaq-Mailman-Gary Payton super team. The Wolves were obviously the underdogs, but they presented a real challenge. After losing game 1, Minnesota won game 2, but at the cost of Sam Cassell. He hurt his hip literally 43 seconds in. Miraculously he played game 3, but was MIA for the rest of the series. It was a crushing blow for a team that relied on him to be the 2nd best player beside KG. KG did his part and averaged 24, 14 and 4 in the series, which included a brilliant 30-point outing in game 5 to keep his team’s chances alive. But the Wolves ultimately lost in 6 games. At the time, KG’s 2004 playoff run had the most points, rebounds, assists and blocks of any Timberwolf ever. Only the points and assists have been surpassed since, by Anthony Edwards in 2024. It wasn’t just KG setting records. Sam Cassell became the 26th player in NBA history to put up multiple 40-point games in the same playoff run… yes really. Even better, Sam Cassell’s 2004 playoff run alone gave him more 40-point games in the playoffs than the following current and future Hall-of-Famers: James Worthy, Dr. J, David Robinson, Klay Thompson, Paul George and Demar DeRozan Although this era didn’t last long, Minnesota can finally say they have a better era of Timberwolves basketball and they can look back on this season with rose coloured glasses as the year Kevin Garnett became a Larry O’Brien Legend and Sam Cassell solidified his Larry O’Brien legend in stone.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 10: Worthy of Centre Stage

Oh boy, I had a bunch of options here. The problem was finding a moment/run that isn’t talked about ad nauseum. I don’t need to regale you with the story of the 2020 Lakers or Kobe Bryant or Magic. Instead, let me tell you about the time James Worthy became Big Game James. If you know anything about NBA history, or watched Winning Time, you know about the Showtime Lakers. Magic and Kareem combined to make one of the greatest duos in NBA history as arguably the greatest point guard and centre respectively. However, don’t forget about James Worthy. Thanks to an asinine trade made by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Lakers got the 1st overall draft pick after winning the 1982 championship and picked James Worthy. He was coming off a stellar career at North Carolina that culminated in a National Championship alongside a freshman named Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, Worthy missed the 1983 run with an injury, but quickly established himself as a playoff riser after that season. However, it would be 1988 when Worthy earned his iconic nickname. Kareem was 40-years-old so James Worthy was expected to be Magic’s #1 option during their playoff run beside leading scorer Byron Scott. The first series wouldn’t see that from Worthy, but it also didn’t need it, as the Lakers swept the Spurs with ease. Klay Thompson’s dad (Mychal Thompson) was 2nd in scoring behind Magic with Worthy being in 3rd. The Lakers met a young Karl Malone and John Stockton in round 2 and proceeded to have a hard-fought 7 game series. Worthy finished the series 2nd in scoring behind Byron Scott and helped close out the series beside Scott’s 29 points with 23 of his own, granted, on rough shooting splits (41%). It would be the last 2 series where Worthy would make the biggest impact. In the conference finals, Worthy and the Lakers met the Dallas Mavericks and their star forward Mark Aguirre. This is notable because the Lakers actually nearly traded James Worthy to the Mavericks for Aguirre, a fact that Worthy was very aware of. This information gave Worthy a chimp on his shoulder and he played like it. In another hard-fought 7-game series, James Worthy was the clear-cut #1, averaging 23, 5 and 5 on stupendous 57% shooting. This includes a legendary game 7 performance when Worthy put up 28, 7 and 7, out-duelling the man he was nearly traded for. Even with all he had done, the Finals would present his greatest challenge. The Lakers met the Bad Boys Pistons, a team that shifted from a high-scoring team of the mid-80s to become an unselfish, brutish defensive team. They ranked top 3 in both defensive rating and opponent points per game in the regular season. They had all the names you think of: Zeke, Dumars, Laimbeer and a young Dennis Rodman. The Lakers needed Worthy to perform in order to overcome this challenge. Worthy delivered, through 6 games, Worthy averaged: 20, 6 and 4, but in game 7, he played the best game of his life. Worthy put up 36, 16 and 10, the first and only triple double of his Hall of Fame career. At the time, he was just the 3rd player ever to put up a 30+ point triple double in a game 7 and only the 2nd to do it in the Finals (Jerry West did it in 1969). To this day, Worthy is the last man to pull it off. That performance gave him series averages of 22, 7 and 4, thus he was rewarded with Finals MVP. The Lakers made it back to the Finals 2 more times, 89 against the Bad Boys and 91 against Jordan’s Bulls, only to get crushed in both series. If not for Worthy’s legendary performance in 88, the Showtime Lakers have 1 less ring. That makes him worthy of being a Larry O’Brien Legend.