The San Antonio Spurs had only been held to 101 points or less a total of 14 times throughout the regular season. 13 of those games, including two against the Denver Nuggets, resulted in Spurs losses. So you’d be hard pressed to nitpick what the Nuggets did defensively. Will Barton held DeMar DeRozan to just 2-11 shooting when those two players shared the court. LaMarcus Aldridge shot just 5-15 when Nikola Jokic was on the court.
Jamal Murray had a career-high six steals in game one and had plenty of impressive moments but in the playoffs, every mental lapse lowers your team’s chances of winning and Murray had a few high-profile lapses that led directly to easy baskets.