Image: Jamal Murray during a playoff game
Jamal Murray had reasons to celebrate during game 5 versus the Oklahoma City on May 13 — but not in the fourth quarter.
Audio By Carbonatix
Why was the Denver Nuggets' 112-105 loss in game five of their playoffs series versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on May 13 even more infuriating than a similar defeat in the teams' fourth matchup?
For one reason, the Nuggets clearly learned nothing from their previous fail: In both contests, they entered the a fourth quarter with a healthy lead only to display the toughness and resolve of an overgrown grass patch being pulverized by a mulching mower.
Last time around, though, Denver had folded in large part because its starters — particularly consensus best-player-of-the-planet Nikola Jokić — seemed utterly exhausted after requiring overtime to best OKC just 36 hours earlier. On Tuesday night, in contrast, the Nugs seemed to have loads of energy. Unfortunately, they also boasted an excess of stupidity, as evidenced by the way they thoughtlessly succumbed to their worst instincts.
Afterward, the putrid results left infuriated citizens of Nuggets Nation wondering who deserved the biggest slice of blame. But while there were plenty of candidates, one name stood above the rest.
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Ugly play wasn't isolated to the final period. In the first stanza, the Nuggets immediately launched into the same moronic strategy that has gotten them into trouble throughout round two — reacting to the Thunder's gang-mauling of Jokić down low by repeatedly settling for three-pointers none of the supporting crew has been able to hit with consistency. The likes of Michael Porter Jr., and Jamal Murray missed six consecutive triples at the outset, air balls definitely included, en route to a speedy 12-2 deficit.
Current head coach David Adelman — who took over from his sacked predecessor, Michael Malone, in the waning days of the regular campaign — belatedly called a time out, and when the Nugs returned to the court, they actually reversed course, forging inside and battling for position in the painted area. This approach is far more fatiguing, but it forces the action on the Thunder rather than the other way around — and it worked. Denver managed to erase the gap and actually put a little distance between OKC. Moreover, these efforts led to better, more open three-point opportunities that Jokić finally began hitting. Of course, the Nuggets gave away nearly as many buckets as they filled due in part to either sloppiness or too-cute passing that added up to fifteen turnovers by the night's conclusion. But they eked out a 56-54 halftime advantage and built the bump to eight points, 86-78, after the third thanks to a Murray flurry that contributed to his 28 points overall.
As for Jokić, he returned to form following several subpar efforts. His closing stat line of 44 points, fifteen rebounds, five assists and two steals served as a reminder of his immense value despite the fact that the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who cashed in 31 points of his own, is probably going to swipe this season's MVP award from him in a matter of days.
SGA wasn't solely responsible for his unit's comeback in the last frame. With a little over eight minutes left, Lu Dort swished three consecutive shots from beyond the arc, bringing the Thunder to within two points of Denver — and panic ensued. Instead of driving to the basket and forcing the Thunder to foul, a suddenly ice-cold Murray and the rest of the Nugs started heaving up threes and lengthy twos, most of which resolutely remained off-target.
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This was an invitation from the Oklahoma City defense that Denver idiotically accepted. Indeed, the very players OKC wanted to fire blanks did so — not just Porter, who was an absolute waste of space throughout the evening (he finished with a grand total of two points), but also supposed spark plug Russell Westbrook (only four points). Neither of them could have found the rim with a metal detector, and their appalling performances effectively sealed Denver's doom.
At any point during the fourth, Adelman could have ordered his charges to stop launching threes and get back to the approach that had worked in the first and all night long. But instead, he stood passively on the sidelines, allowing the Nugs to piss away another victory. The odds of him changing his interim-head-coach label to something more permanent shrank accordingly, and appropriately.
In the wake of the collapse, which put Denver in a 3-2 hole and transformed their return to the Mile High City on Thursday into a win-or-stay-home scenario, Nuggets loyalists on X pummeled Adelman. But as demonstrated by the twenty memorable takes below, he wasn't the only one.
Number 20:
Cant blame Jokic now like you did entire 60 minutes after last game...
— Stephen (@StephenKing888) May 14, 2025
Number 19:
#Nuggets Why don’t you play Watson more instead of Porter. Porter is a liability on defense and rebounding. Can’t blame him for his shoulder, but why not use Watson more since he’s active on defense and he’s everywhere. He can shoot too!
— Cris Q (@YEYEKQ) May 14, 2025
Number 18:
I blame Westbrook
— FoReVeR ThE DoN (@OneOfAKind750) May 14, 2025
Number 17:
I want to blame a lot of this on the scheduling smh. 8 intense games in 16 days.
Nuggets ALWAYS dominate in the clutch and in b2b games just shit the bed down the stretch.
— Yeah (@YeahWrld) May 14, 2025
Number 16:
Nuggets have nobody to blame but themselves. Choked away two games in a row with abolsutely no basketball IQ in the 4th quarter.
Contrary to popular belief letting a young team shoot wide open three after wide open three while being down double digits in the 4th AINT IT.
— drew jamison (@DrewJamison05) May 14, 2025
Number 15:
@nuggets no one to blame to except porter and westbrook for that absolute trash showing. 1/7 come on. I don’t want to see porter in a nuggets uniform ever again.
— Michael (@eatingthepear) May 14, 2025
Number 14:
Back to back absolutely pathetic, inexcusable losses and the season is over. And funny enough, MPJ and Russ are to blame for both. Get rid of them both in the offseason. And you can’t keep Adelman after this. #Nuggets
— Carson (@carson_orvis) May 14, 2025
Number 13:
MPJ 1-7
Cristian Braun 3-12
Peyton Watson 1-4
Russ 1-7
AG 6-13
Blame the lack of another rotation guy, but it would have been nice if the guys the Nuggets actually have in their rotation could have done literally anything
— Justin (@justintaylor7) May 14, 2025
Number 12:
Murray missed 16 shots including 10 3s. Plenty of blame to go around.
Just brutal.
— JP (@jpride) May 14, 2025
Number 11:
I think its harsh to blame the Nuggets team, Jokic had some terrible performances in the last few games that they gave him a chance to win but Michael Porter Jr just can't be your 3rd highest paid player.
Hes not healthy but we saw this last year against Minnesota
— Wes (@6ManYT) May 14, 2025
Number 10:
Not the coach's fault he doesn't have players to play
— Luka Cubrilo (@LukaVetti) May 14, 2025
Number 9:
Playing a one handed mpj 30’minutes is just something else he was terrible last year with no injury we expect him to close a game in this condition. It’s Adelman fault for sure. Wrong decision over and over again
— Fefits (@fefits) May 14, 2025
Number 8:
Coach sucks! Played the same guys toooo long. The players sitting on the bench didn’t lose the game. It’s the folk out there that lost the game. They let DORT hit 3 open 3 then Williams wide open 3. They were TIRED!!’ No REST. Coach fault!!!
— Sandra (@Sandra38237411) May 14, 2025
Number 7:
It should be Nuggets win last 2 games, series over. Adelman is a Malone assistant, so he makes all the same mistakes ! It's a 7-8 man bench vs a 10 man bench. The guys who are guarding Jokic are getting meaningful rest minutes, we have no backup Center & CB gets an F- for defense pic.twitter.com/5YFWmCmyCC
— Bredø Morstøl (@THC_BoyScout) May 14, 2025
Number 6:
I’m out on Adelman.
You’ve been with the nuggets for how long and you don’t know not to do the one most obvious, well-established thing not to do? https://t.co/ho1Rhjr8ZN
— Patty Graham (@PattyGr29702276) May 14, 2025
Number 5:
No way Adelman can be the coach next year. Giving MPJ 29 minutes, giving Russ so many minutes. He is losing focus of the flow of the game.
— Michael Jones (@mgf0263) May 14, 2025
Number 4:
Lack of bench, Bad shots/inconsistency from Porter/Westbrook, lack of defense/legs & soft coaching led to that choke. Several ways the Nuggets tossed that game away.
— Mile High Minute(@mhmdenver) May 14, 2025
Number 3:
Did you watch the last 2 games?
Porter has 5 points scored in the last 64 minutes he’s played.
It’s time to shut him down for Game 6, and let Strawther & Watson split his minutes.
— Jokić (@Vukan22) May 14, 2025
Number 2:
Murray is the biggest fraud ever. What he did in the fourth quarter tonight?What he did from 2023 season?Porter doesn’t deserve to be mentioned as the NBA player.
— Zoran (@zoranivb2) May 14, 2025
Number 1:
Nuggets never give up it's the best quality of the Jokic/Murray era
— 627Zach (@627zach) May 14, 2025