The climb is mountainous, trouble lurking at every step.
One bad dribble, and Denver runs the other direction, creating an open three. One missed assignment, and Aaron Gordon cuts baseline for a dunk. One whiffed box out and the Nuggets get a second, and sometimes, a third chance.
One missed shot, and the margins get tighter, the chances get smaller, the ending gets closer.
One more tough night and the season will be done.
Boos started to fill Crypto.com Arena by the fourth quarter, this time coming after a mistake on a screen led to an open Denver dunk.