Former Denver Nuggets power forward Kenyon Martin still looks back at the 2009 Western Conference Finals against the eventual-champion Los Angeles Lakers as a painful reminder of how close he was to almost playing in the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance.
In an interview with Gina Mizell of The Denver Post, Martin talked about that 2008-09 squad's success that postseason and their eventual inability to make adjustments against Los Angeles, which saw the Lakers advance to the NBA Finals for the second straight year after a 119-92 rout over the Nuggets in Game 6.
“’Close’ only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Nobody remembers who came in second,” Martin said. “It was a good run, but I’m not the one who’s happy about not winning. I take it personal. There (are) things that happened throughout that series that we could have done better. But, hindsight … We didn’t make adjustments. That’s all. That’s the bottom line.”
Martin was one of three former Denver standout players, along with star guard Allen Iverson and center Marcus Camby, honored on Friday night at Pepsi Center during “2000s Night” as part of the franchise’s season-long 50th-anniversary celebration.
Ultimately, Martin felt that the team's lack of physicality on defense was their downfall and cost them a shot at their first NBA title.
“Playing fast don’t always get it done, though. It is what it is. You’ve got to be able to slow that thing down and run halfcourt (sets). You ain’t gonna beat anybody (in the playoffs) running up and down the court, especially not then … There’s a lack of defense. There’s a lack of attention to detail. There’s a lot that goes with playing fast. You may score a lot of points, which we did. We gave up a lot, too.”
During his six starts in the 2009 Western Conference Finals against the Lakers, Martin was the Nuggets' fourth-leader scorer with 12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
Follow Us
Subscribe