In Denver, no one could hear Gregg Popovich Scream

The San Antonio Spurs pushed the much talented Denver Nuggets to the seventh final match of their first-round match. After absorbing the efforts of their opponents' goals, Gregg Popovich's team fought back in the second half and reduced the strong double-digit lead to one-on-one possession. After a Jamal Murray float to climb the Nuggets 90-86, DeMar Derozan attempted to answer with a short-range strike, but Torrey Craig got his advantage. San Antonio was four behind with less than 30 seconds. All this incredibly resilient team had to do was at least to have a chance to keep their post-season alive. Instead, they simply went to bed and died.

As time passed, LaMarcus Aldridge watched Nikola Jokic dribble the clock in less than 10 seconds and pass the ball to Jamal Murray, who shot a shot that equalized the last five seconds. It was clearly not the game plan because Popovich, along with two other assistants, could be seen shouting at the players to foul Jokic and send him on the line. But the Denver crowd did its job and made so much noise that the message was never heard by Aldidge's ears.

Let's be clear: the Spurs' chances of return, even if they were dirty, were rather slim. Even though Jokic only makes one of these baskets, it's still a two-possession game that requires a level of speed that San Antonio simply does not play at. That said, it's shocking to see a team led by one of the greatest coaches in NBA history sleep on the track as the train arrives. Popovich clearly understood that the mental error had made the game lose and seemed to answer a question about it during his post-game press conference.

When in doubt about Popovich's end, Aldridge clarified with reporters and confirmed that he could not really hear Pop's desperate calls.

This is certainly a testament to the strength of Denver's advantage on his field, namely that spectators could influence this game in such a meaningful way. With so many modern technologies available to limit the damage caused by the constant movement of players, it is rare that this type of advantage is used in today's game. This is something that will definitely be useful against the Nuggets' second round series against Trail Blazers. Of course, given the volume of the crowd in Portland, it is likely that this type of tinnitus at the end of the game finds a way to affect both teams equally.