Nathaniel Rateliff bellowed “The Star Spangled Banner,” tipoff approached and the Nuggets stepped to the precipice of history.
As the NBA Finals arrived on the Front Range after 47 years in the league and a frenetic Ball Arena brimmed, Aaron Gordon relished the scene.
“It was just like, it was beautiful,” Gordon beamed after the Nuggets polished off a 104-93 Game 1 victory over Miami. “I took a moment during the national anthem was like, ‘Wow, this is really the NBA Finals and it’s really, really cool.’”
Pregame nerves would have been perfectly understandable for the 27-year-old forward from San Jose. He’d played in 596 regular-season and 35 playoff games over nine professional seasons, but his 632nd time on an NBA floor doubled was his Finals debut.
A day before, he told reporters he planned to embrace the new frontier by staying “deeply present.”
“I think that’s a reward in its own right,” added the former Archbishop Mitty High star. “Just be in the moment. Enjoy this, regardless of the outcome, regardless of what happens.”
Gordon rooted himself in the moment, then maximized it.
He airballed a 3-point attempt 90 seconds in and then was stripped by Jimmy Butler going up on his next shot attempt before taking over. Gordon made his next seven field goal attempts, bullying a helpless set of smaller defenders. He delivered Denver’s offensive message — we’re bigger and stronger than you, and you’re going to feel it — the way he so often does defensively.
Four times Nikola Jokic found him with an array of entry passes and twice Gordon benefitted from Murray helpers. On the other, he saw a crease, attacked Max Strus with a Euro-step and finished with his left hand.
When Jokic pulled Heat centers Bam Adebayo and Cody Zeller away from the hoop, the visitors had no answer for Gordon down low.
“Oh, I love to play with him,” Jokic said afterward, lighting up at a question about Gordon. “I love to play with a, I want to say ‘dominant big man,’ if that makes any sense. The best thing he did is accept his role, and he’s really doing a great job of that. Like today he got it going. We were just getting him the ball, and he was really good in the paint.”
By the end of the night, the Nuggets found themselves three games from a title, and Gordon earned the defensive player of the game chain from coach Michael Malone.
“I felt Aaron Gordon’s play on both ends of the floor in that first half really set the tone,” Malone said.
He’s done it defensively the entire postseason, handling a stream of world-class assignments in Minnesota’s Karl Anthony-Towns, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Los Angeles’ LeBron James and now Miami’s Jimmy Butler.
Asked Thursday night if he’s reflected at all on the impressive collection of belt notches he’s racking up, Gordon flashed a little humor.
“Not yet. Not yet,” he said. “But I’m definitely going to be sitting in my rocking chair when I’m 79, 90 years old, talking to my kids like, ‘Back in the day, I locked these guys up.’”
The funny part is that Gordon had just given an extensive answer about how nothing on defense is creditable to one person. It’s all teamwork, all the time. If he’s leaning back in the rocking chair some day to recount these playoffs, his conquests will be part of the tale. KCP, Joker, Mal, Brucey B., Uncle Jeff and the rest will be, too. A big ring that fits his finger forever, of course, would be the star of the show if he and the Nuggets finish the job.
That’s the future. In Game 1, Gordon looked at peace in the present and also in control of it.
“I’m not here for the credit. I’m here for the wins,” he said. “Playing with guys like the guys that are on this team is just a blessing. It’s a beautiful opportunity to play with guys on the team that have so much talent, have so much skill and have so much passion for the game of basketball.”
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