NBA Finals: With Game 2 collapse, the Nuggets’ good vibes vanish into thin air
Aaron Gordon sat at his locker, intermittently shaking his head. The subject of his stare shifted — his phone, a stat sheet, the ground at his feet — as if he was searching for something. Some answers, maybe, for what the hell had just happened out there.
Denver had led Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals on Sunday night by 15 points midway through the second quarter and by 8 with less than a minute left in the third. But after a fourth quarter in which the Nuggets got their doors blown off — a 36-25 finish, marked by ghastly defensive lapses, repeated unforced errors and a widespread lack of composure, punctuated with a would-be tying step-back 3-pointer by Jamal Murray that caromed off the front of the rim in the closing second of a 111-108 loss — the suit of armor that the West’s No. 1 seed had built around themselves through 13 postseason wins lay disassembled at their feet.
Their lead over the Miami Heat in these Finals? Gone. Their perfect home record in this postseason? Gone. Home-court advantage in this seven-game series? Gone.
“It’s the f***ing Finals, man,” said veteran forward Jeff Green, who chipped in 9 points in 16 minutes off the bench. “Our energy has to be better. We can’t come out like we did, and we have to be better.”
Game 3 Info for Tonight:
Heat vs. Nuggets | Wednesday, June 7 | 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
