Nuggets trying to overcome deficit only handful of teams have
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
By digging themselves a 2-0 hole with the loss to the Timberwolves on Monday, the Nuggets became the first defending champion to lose their first two home games in a playoff series since the 2011 Lakers.
Denver now attempts to become only the sixth team in NBA history to overcome a 2-0 deficit after dropping consecutive home games.
Among the five teams that completed the turnaround, only the 1994 Rockets went on to win it all. Kenny Smith, the starting point guard on that team, explained what it would take for the defending champions to stay afloat in the series, let alone make a miraculous comeback and keep their season alive.
“I was blessed to be on a team that was able to do that,” Smith said on “Inside the NBA” on TNT. “There are several factors that have to come about. The first is that there has to be a delusion of grandeur. You have to believe outside of your body that you can do that as a team. And that has to translate from your secretaries to your ballboys — everybody around your team has to have that delusion.”
As for the second factor, Smith believes the Nuggets must rally around their “guy” Nikola Jokic like his Rockets did with Hakeem Olajuwon. However, he remains pessimistic about Denver’s chances due to the inconsistent production of Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and the rest of Jokic’s supporting cast.
The Nuggets will look to recreate the feat of Smith’s Rockets starting with Friday’s Game 3 in Minnesota. They enter as -4.5 underdogs in a game that, by all accounts, will be a must-win situation.
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