DENVER — So, Nikola Jokić: It's been nine full days since you last laced them up for an honest-to-goodness NBA game, finishing off the Los Angeles Lakers to sweep the Western Conference finals and lead the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA Finals. How'd the time off treat you?
either the LeBron James-led 2016-17 Cavaliers team that went on a 12-1 rampage through the Eastern Conferencethe Kevin Durant-reinforced Warriors squad that drilled Cleveland in five games. When your engine's running that hot and you're forced to put it in neutral for a week and a half, how easily can you get it revved back up again?
But drills and scrimmages can get only so close to replicating the real thing. Veteran forward Jeff Green, who’s making his second Finals appearance, said that after spending more than a week watching the Miami-Boston series wind its way toward conclusion, he told his wife that he felt like he wasn’t even in the playoffs anymore.
“I think we're ready,” Nuggets guard Bruce Brown said. ”We've been there before. We've had a long break during All-Star. I think we'll be fine. There's no worries there.” And while they would’ve loved to finish that final second of Game 6 against Boston to give themselves an extra couple of days, there is a silver lining to the gray cloud of Derrick White’s putback.
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