The nuggets are ready for the party after surviving the Spurs, end of the wild game 7

DENVER – Fans of the NBA, meet the Denver Nuggets.

Nuggets, say hello.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "After a regular season 54-28 hidden in the timezone Mountain and a first-round playoff series relegated primarily to the NBA TV, the Denver Nuggets qualified for the second round with & nbsp;Victory of Saturday 90-86 on the San Antonio Spurs& nbsp; to win a 4-3 series win. "data-reactid =" 37 "> After a regular 54-28 season hidden in the Mountain time zone and a first playoff round relegated mainly to the NBA TV, the Denver Nuggets qualified for the second round with the victory of Saturday's 90-86 on the San Antonio Spurs and a 4-3 win.

There, the Nuggets team that fans who do not live near the Rocky Mountains have heard of today, will require the attention of NBA fans nationwide.

Nikola Jokic, the big, modest guy who can do anything on the pitch except the jump, will have his first chance to shine on the national stage. And by anything but jumping, it means everything.

Jokic can shoot, pass, run and bounce. He has a triple double threat every time he gets on the field, as he showed the Spurs Saturday with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

Oh, he can defend himself too. Just ask LaMarcus Aldridge, the Spurs striker who has regularly found his way to the basket blocked by Jokic's mount of 7 feet and 249 pounds Saturday.

Nuggets in control until the end of the matches

The Nuggets controlled Match 7 early in the evening, opening a 23-13 lead in the first quarter, which saw the Spurs stifled in defense, missing 11 of their first 12 attempts.

Denver's poor shooting performance did not allow either team to stay away from the goal, reducing Nuggets' score to 88-86 in the fourth quarter, nudging a crowd at the Pepsi Center who had spent most of his time on the match. that a trip to the second round of the series was under way.

LaMarcus Aldridge forgets to make a mistake on Jokic

But the Nuggets held up well after a strange final sequence in which the Spurs failed to commit a foul in the closing seconds of the match to allow Denver to run to the clock.

Jamal Murray hit the last corner of the game, a 14-foot-footer on LaMarcus Aldridge to extend Denver's lead to four with 36.8 seconds to go.

When Torrey Craig blocked DeMar Derozan's call on the other end of the field, Jokic secured the rebound with 25.6 seconds left and was able to move up the field.

Happy to run, Jokic held the ball above the 3-point line once he crossed half the field while Aldridge was defending him. But Aldridge did not commit a fault, allowing the stopwatch to run out.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich entered the field and implored Aldridge to make a mistake. But the Pepsi center roared and Aldridge did not notice that his head coach had urged him.

Patty Mills, guarding a spinning Murray, also did not insult Jokic when he grazed the Nuggets center while pursuing his man.

So why did not Aldridge commit a fault in a situation that required a game to stop the clock?

"I did not hear it," says Aldridge about Popovich. "The crowd was noisy. I missed it. That's all. "

When asked if he knew how much time was left, Aldridge did not explain much.

"Yes, I just did not make a mistake, and that's all," he said. "I should have, I did not do it, there is nothing else to say about it.

Popovich, like Popovich, does not have much to say about the last seconds of the game.

"Obviously, he did not hear anyone because he was not at fault," said Popovich.

For the rest of the Spurs, who did not intervene when Aldridge failed to stop the clock?

"LA was far above the key," said DeRozan. "I do not know if they heard it. We were so low that we could not leave our man, sink and drop. Before trying anything, it was a little too late. "

Too late it was. Murray missed a pointer to 3 while the shooting clock stopped. When DeRozan ensured the rebound, there was 1 second left and the Nuggets victory was assured.

Denver advances to face a relaxed Portland Trail Blazers team that finished Tuesday at Oklahoma City Thunder for a 4-1 series victory.

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