The Denver Nuggets have a chance to close out their Western Conference Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers and to do it in sweeping fashion well, up 3-0 against the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-led squad.
If that were to happen, the Nuggets will be making their first NBA Finals appearance since 1976, back when Denver was just a couple of years removed from being called the Rockets.
However, the Nuggets — led by grizzled head coach Michael Malone — know that their mind needs to focused on the task at hand: eliminating the Lakers from postseason contention.
In fact, according to veteran forward Jeff Green, that was the main message from Malone during Denver's film session on Sunday morning (h/t Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports):
“Win tomorrow.”
Green, who has been in the NBA since 2007, takes it a bit further.
“We have to end it,” Green says. “We can’t give (LeBron) life. Tomorrow, it has to end.”
To date, LeBron is the only player to lead his team from down 3-1 in an NBA Finals series. As a player who seems to notch history as often as people buy clothes, it would be a bit unfair to completely count James out now.
LeBron is now 38-years-old and not as dominant an athlete as he once was. However, the four-time MVP is still a highly intelligent, mobile and strong player that can make defenses play, which is why James is averaging 23.7 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the field in the Western Conference Finals.
“Talk is cheap,” Malone says of closing out the series. “We’ve got to go in there and do it. We had the same opportunity against [the] Minnesota [Timberwolves] and lost Game 4.”
Though the Nuggets would go on to beat the Timberwolves, the message is clear.
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