The Denver Nuggets may have won Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series in the NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, but it might have been difficult to tell. The Nuggets lead by double-digits for most of the game but due to a late Lakers flurry that got them within three points in the fourth quarter, most of the national media narrative was about how the Lakers figured the Nuggets out. The Lakers adjustment of switching Rui Hachimura on to Nikola Jokic was hyped as a series changing decision. It didn't work in Game 2 as Jokic still finished with a triple-double and the Nuggets got the win. After the game, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone blasted the narrative that the Lakers were fine and that it was the Nuggets that needed to make the adjustment.

“You win Game 1 of the playoffs and all everybody talked about was the Lakers. Let's be honest, that was a national narrative that was hey the Lakers are fine. They're down 1-0 but they figured something out,” Michael Malone said. “No one talked about Nikola just had a historic performance. . .what he's doing is just incredible but the narrative wasn't about the Nuggets, the narrative wasn't about Nikola, the narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments.”

With their Game 2 win, the Nuggets are two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals as their NBA Playoffs series now shifts to the Lakers homecourt. They have the opportunity to write their own story and continue destroying the narratives.