Morris and Jamal Murray intervened before anything physical materialized, but the spat was the first public signal of something snapping within a team that’s known for powering through adversity. Not in that environment, against a white-hot team, and already facing the talent disparity at hand. Whatever it was, and Cousins appeared to initiate it, the last thing Denver needed was a crack in the foundation. It was amid their relentless run, with 6:14 left in the third quarter and the Nuggets down 72-62, that Barton headed into a timeout and was met by Cousins’ verbal joust. “We were right there in the game, and like you just said, you look up and then they go on huge runs and we’re getting helter-skelter and everything - we’re all over the place on offense, we’re not in the right places on defense, and the game just gets out of control,” Barton said. The Nuggets folded under the weight of them, losing their offensive structure and internal composure as a result. There were seven 3-pointers in total, each one feeling more powerful and punishing than the last.

Miscommunications and perimeter breakdowns reared its head, exposing a window into season-long issues that Morris said needed to be worked out months ago. Through two games of this lopsided series, Golden State’s made the compelling argument their dominance might not be done.ĭropping their discipline amid the chaos, the Nuggets fouled three separate 3-point shooters in the quarter alone. The Nuggets wilted under the same rush of energy that’d buried so many other teams during the Warriors’ dynastic run. It was the 44-point third quarter tidal wave that drowned them. “If we’ve got any pride, we’ve got to find out real soon because it’s not going to get no easier for us.” “We’ve got to figure it out, because getting swept again, not a good look for nobody, and it’s embarrassing,” Morris said. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu

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