Why Aaron Gordon and Russell Westbrook are X factors for Denver

The few nuggets connected to game 3 to steal the game 1 and the home place from OKC.

The success of Denver as a team is generally attributed to the three -time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, rightly so. Jamal Murray, who enjoys a little out of the field and 31.5% in 3-converter during the playoffs from 2024, also deserves a lot of loan. In nine games so far, he achieved an average of 21.7 points at 46.8% shootout and 40.7% compared to the long distance (with 6.6 attempts).

However, Aaron Gordon and Russell Westbrook were a huge part of the Nuggets winning formula in these playoffs. Let's start with russ.

After Westbrook had spent the La Clippers in the past two years, he won a sweet revenge on his former hometown club at the victory of the first round. He fought for LA in the Playoff run last season, only 6.3 points and 1.7 templates for shooting components of 26.0% FG / 23.5% 3p / 61.5% FT in six appearances. This experience may have influenced how Clipper's coach Tyronn Lue decided to defend Westbrook and at the same time take care of Jokić and Murray. They dared to shoot Westbrook, and that's exactly what he did.

In six competitions against LA in the first round, Westbrook scored 13.8 points and 1.3 steals at 43.3% shootout and 41.9% in 3-Zeiger (at 5.2 attempts per) as a quarter-headed scorer from Denver. In eight games in this post -season, he achieved a solid 15.0 ppg, 4.0 RPG and 3.0 APG on average, while he shoots a total of 45.1% and 37.5% from the depth (5.0 attempts per). These percentages represent the best brands of the 17-year veterinarian since the 2009/10 night season (47.3% FG, 41.7% 3P).

If you enter his statistics more deeply from this year, Russ was and will be an X factor for Denver. When the Nuggets won, he was at 13.5 FGA with 17.5 points at 46.3% and 38.1% compared to 3 together with 4.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.8 steals and a plus 3,3-plus minus rating. In the event of losses, the figures dropped to 12.5 ppg at 43.2% at 9.3 FGA and 36.8% of 3, 0.3 steals and a negative assessment of 13.3 plus minus.

Westbrook fell 18 points (7-13 FG), 2 boards and 2 dimes in 30 minutes in the 121-119 victory of Denver in game 1 of the Western Conference against OKC Thunder. His last support in this? The cross court dish to Aaron Gordon for the The game -gaming triple left with 2.8 seconds.

Now let's talk about “Air Gordon” and what he contributed to the Mile High City. In game 4 against the Clippers, he fascinated the fans and the NBA world by ending the first ever Game -winning Dunk In the playoffs that give the nuggets a 101-99 victory. If they don't remember, Denver had lost 34 in game 3 in the intuit dome and went into this competition 2-1. Instead, Gordon put on his Cape to avoid what an amazing 3: 1 deficit could have been, and his squad took three of the next four to climb to Semis.

Gordon's three against the Thunder have put his name together with Robert Horry (2002), Hedo Turkoglu (2009) and LeBron James (2018) as the only player since 1997-98 to sink two players in one playoffs. “I have worked a lot on my jumper over the years. You saw the maturation. It's nice that everything culminates in a game winner,” he said in his postgame interview.

Similar to Westbrook, Gordon was a key factor for the verse success in the playoffs with its value, his rebound and his hustle and bustle. In her five victories, he set 21.2 points on splits of 55.4% FG / 35.3% 3p / 87.5% FT together with 7.2 rebounds (3.8 offensive tattes) in 40 minutes. In her four losses, he scored 14.5 points, while his shootout dropped to 40.4% in total, with 5.8 rebounds (4.0 offensive) in 34.4 minutes. During the defeat on Wednesday, he ended with 10 points at 3-against-12 shooting and was minus 36 in 27 minutes.

The Nuggets have a 43-point blowout loss against the thunder, in which they allowed an NBA record of 87 points in the first half. Interim's coach David Adelman said: “We were picked up and didn't play well enough and they came out with the right intensity. We didn't do it.”

Denver will make the right adjustments, and if you want to record your intensity in game 3 tonight (10 et, ESPN) With the series with 1: 1, Gordon and Westbrook can deliver them in grapes.