As the Nuggets finished warming up, not all of them knew yet. In their minds, they were minutes away from their rematch with the defending MVP.
“I was trying to grab guys individually,” coach Michael Malone said, his goal being to encourage them one at a time: “Hey man, no letdowns.” He was afraid that Joel Embiid’s last-second scratch could soften his team’s mental edge.
“And Aaron Gordon was like, ‘What are you talking about?'” Malone recalled after his fears came true but the Nuggets escaped with a 111-105 win anyway.
“I said, Embiid’s not playing.