No player, not even Michael Jordan, wins a championship alone. There is no championship without defining moments when a team is asked a question that is a little different from "how good are you."
It happened 9:24 to end Game 4 in Miami. 17 seconds earlier, Nikola Jokic had committed a seemingly intentional foul — apparently didn't like anything he saw in the defensive cover — and now committed a critical attacking foul right on Bam Adebayo.
Miami's crowd woke up. Adebayo shrank from the line to 8 points and the demons and ghosts that have been the Miami Heat in this playoffs threatened to strike again. Will they inexplicably come out of four games in which they were 2-2 drawn? Jokic, distraught, began coaching from the bench shouting. At such moments, it is still unclear whether it is totality or restlessness on the lines.
Jokic on the lines. There is no silence for a moment, photo: AFP
The fog should clear. The plot to be solved.
When they produce the documentary about the Denver Nuggets' historic championship, it will be the dramatic moment. And his heroes will be two. Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown. Gordon was once the star of the Orlando Magic — but 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting in the most important win in Denver Nuggets history is his biggest day in the league.
Bruce Brown, a traveling basketball player already on his third team in five seasons in the league, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter — of 21 in the game and out of his team's 22 in the quarter — in the city where he once played college basketball.
"I wanted to punch him in the face when I saw him go up for a stepback triple," Jokic said with a smile at the press conference, "but then I saw it go in." The journalists laugh. Now it feels like a champion's battle legacy stories. Or lineage.
Brown. Saved from being punched in the face, photo: AFP
The beauty is that even when the supporting actors became stars – the superstars did the little things. Jokic has a day of 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists on less than 50 percent shooting on the floor. But he suddenly got 3 steals and 3 blocks and also interrupted the Miami offense three times with a foot. Completely disrupted the pace of Miami's offense.
Murray had a poor shooting day — 5-of-17 — but dished out 12 assists without a loss. Their mantra "Everyone should give 'impact winning'" was more than a cover-up.
The disappearance of the "undrafted"
There's nothing you can do, there's something about champions. We saw this in the loser's ranks. Miami will almost certainly lose because Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are stars and Denver's Jamal Murray is also a star — but Jokic is currently playing basketball at a level few have ever played.
Martin (with the ball). Disappeared with the rest of Miami's auxiliary, Photo: AP
But when Denver repeatedly threatened to run away — it hadn't fallen behind 0-2 since, but on the other hand had little lead by double digits — those who kept the Heat in the picture were those who were there. Kyle Lowry, once a champion with Toronto, had 37 points and 13 assists in 4 minutes in the first half at age 13. Kevin Love, 34, scored 12 points in 18 minutes — including three critical three-pointers.
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But the army of "undrafted" — 5-6 undrafted players who made a huge contribution to the Heat's playoffs — finally fell silent. Gabe Vincent and Max Strus scored 0 and 2 points as quintet players. Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson offered a little more. But somewhere in the second week of June they finally look like a team that really lacks some talent. At least when she meets someone who looks like a dynasty.
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