For the second time in this first-round NBA playoff series, the Denver Nuggets saved their season against the San Antonio Spurs. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was focused on that reality, not a larger piece of the Nuggets' bitter history in San Antonio.
Denver knotted this Western Conference quarterfinal series at 2-2 with a 117-103 Game 4 victory over the Spurs on Saturday evening. The win marked Denver's first victory in San Antonio since 2012. For the second time, Denver avoided a two-game deficit in the series. It fell behind 1-0 but won Game 2 to even the series. The Nuggets repeated the cycle in Games 3 and 4, falling behind but then regrouping.
After Game 4, Malone applauded the way his players responded to a deflating Game 3 loss by going out in Game 4 with confidence and not worrying about the underlying story that Denver had not won in San Antonio for the past seven years.
“I saw a confidence, that's what I saw. I saw a young team that was not thinking about 2012. Because if you think about the last seven years, that's gonna overwhelm you. We're living in the present. We're living today. Game 4, and that's all we're worried about. We know we didn't show up the way we needed to show up in Game 3, and our guys answered.”
Malone made those comments in the postgame presser, per Ben Golliver on Twitter.
After Game 4 win over Spurs, Nuggets coach Michael Malone on first win in San Antonio since 2012: "I saw a lot of balls on the table. If you think about the last seven years, that's going to overwhelm you. We're living in the present." pic.twitter.com/ooVRMww0t3
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 21, 2019
The storyline that hovered over the team as the series shifted to San Antonio did not seem to rattle Denver in Game 4, especially with this being a virtual must-win.
The Spurs raced out to 12-point lead in the first quarter. With their backs against the wall, the Nuggets could have folded easily, playing in front of a raucous San Antonio crowd. But the Nuggets responded with a 32-20 second quarter, and then used a huge second half to even up the series.
Michael Malone inserted reserve swingman Torrey Craig into the starting lineup with forward Will Barton struggling from the field. This proved to be crucial for the second-seeded Nuggets; Craig gave them a spark. The former G-League standout scored 18 points and made five triples in 37 minutes to help Denver regain home-court advantage.
The Nuggets have a chance to finally get the upper hand in the series when Game 5 tips off on Tuesday in Denver.
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