Small-market NBA teams don’t usually get the same recognition other teams get.
That’s why people have mostly slept on the Denver Nuggets this season, and not even their record and taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns in the playoffs was enough for them to get the credit they deserve.
With that in mind, Jamal Murray recently said that he and his teammates are using that as motivation to get the job done and make a statement once and for all.
“Even when we win, they talk about the other team. … It just fuels us a little more, and it’ll be sweeter when we win the chip”
Jamal Murray on the narrative around the Nuggets 😤 pic.twitter.com/umKY4AmLio
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 19, 2023
Most of the media’s attention has focused on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even when they lost, the narrative was that they should feel pretty confident about their chances for Game 2.
Then, it was all about how starting Jarred Vanderbilt or Rui Hachimura was going to help them even things up.
No one talked about Nikola Jokic’s 13th playoff triple-double or about the fact that the Nuggets led by as many as 21 points at one point in the game.
The series will now head to Southern California, and the Nuggets have been stellar on the road, so there’s a big chance people and talking heads will once again talk about what the Lakers need to do to come back, even if they fall to a 0-3 hole.
The Nuggets were the best team in the Western Conference for a reason, and they’ve only lost three games in the playoffs thus far because they’re an elite team.
They’ll keep on playing with a chip on their shoulder, and people better stop sleeping on them.
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