The Denver Nuggets’ 80-78 victory in Game 7 opposed the Utah Jazz to a war of wear and a stark contrast to the six games that preceded it.
While Game 7 was about the duel between the wonderful men Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert, they would not have reached this point without an unprecedented showdown between Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray.
After their efforts on exhausted legs on Tuesday, they finished the first-round match with an average of 36.3 and 31.6 points, respectively.Each has had its own pair of 50-point games and has eclipsed 30 three-way games in the series.
Even if they never meet again in the playoffs (and we hope they will), they will take part in one of the biggest playoff battles in NBA history.
At the beginning of the 2020 playoffs, Michael Jordan (in the first circular of 1988) and Allen Iverson (in the 2001 circular) were the players in NBA history who had played two 50-point games in an undying playoff series.
After one in the bubble, that number doubled.
Mitchell, the match with a series of 57 problems in Game 1, puts him third in the all-time rankings for single-game playoff performances.A little over two weeks later, he and Murray occupy 4 of the 42 most sensitive places on that list.
Beyond the raw numbers, there was electrical power in this home setting and out that you had to watch live.
While Jazz had a 3-1 lead in the series, Mitchell unstoppable. Every pull-up in which you dried, either from the midrange or beyond the three-point line, is meant to fall.before him in the records.
In Game 5, when Utah had his first chance to finish the series, he had one on Michael Porter Jr. that would have been an exclamation point worthy of his team’s progress.
However, Murray refused to leave Orlando, and hit after blow proved it.
In the same contest, he went on to play a 4-point game with another 42.In the fourth quarter alone, he had 16 out of 7 of 8 shots to accompany four assists. Denver still had a lot of flooring to catch up on, but he may feel Murray’s foot at the door.He refused to be sent home.
In Game 6, the two stars provided even more fireworks.Murray had his 50-issue departure moment from the series.He had 21 problems in 7 of 8 shots in the fourth draw alone.Mitchell almost tied him with the punch, completing with 44.
In six games, the series was tied and resembled Rocky IV, many of those blows have been the coup de grace, one way or another, none was.
In Game 7, the script was exactly as it should, both exhausted fighters fired 37.2% overall from the field, Murray’s cast did a little more and gave the impression of moving to a second-round game with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Even if those two never face each other in any other playoff series, they’ll pass any aspect of one of the biggest playoff duels in NBA history.
For the sake of basketball enthusiasts around the world, let’s hope this is just the beginning of a rivalry that will become a legend like the ones below.
They were not covered on the court, however, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson took the lead roles in their opposing 19 final games.
If we judge the rivalry only in wins and defeats, Magic had the advantage.He won two of three series and had an 11-8 playoff record against Bird, but it’s hard to blame the legendary Boston Celtic for that.
The figures for the two stars of those 19 matches were absurd.
“Bird and Magic are the co-kings of the NBA,” said the Los Angeles Laker Mychal Thompson in 1987.”I think you can call them salt and pepper because they bring this league to life.”
For much of the 1980s, the league belonged to those two forwards.Their rivalry and individual excellence fueled the league and its influence.
Murray and Mitchell have a long way to go to compare themselves to those legends, but they may simply take on a role.
Ratings have been a challenge for the NBA, including the reboot that followed months without sports.One-on-one electrifying rivalry helped solve this challenge nearly 40 years ago.This series between Murray and Mitchell may just be the beginning of something similar.
Bill Russell, unlike Wilt Chamberlain, would possibly have been the first major rivalry for NBA superstars.
Wilt the wonder that set the highest showy individual numbers.Russell led the biggest team of the time to 11 NBA championships.
In the 10 seasons the two were in the league, they won 8 MVP awards and faced each other 8 times in the playoffs, their numbers relative to others reflected their careers:
Russell would have probably been Wilt’s most productive in terms of wins and defeats, but a strong argument that he wouldn’t have gotten to the point he reached without his foil, as Bob Ryan wrote to NBA.com.
“Because Wilt Chamberlain was as talented as his lawyers thought.He rewrote the NBA record eBook several times.It would be the greatest individual force in the history of the sport.And it would push Bill Russell to play the most productive of himself.In the absence of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell would have been great.But because of Wilt Chamberlain’s terrifying presence, Bill Russell became, as the old army announcement put it, in all that it can be.”
The epic first-round series between Murray and Mitchell brought a similar feel: Mitchell’s 57 in the first attack seemed to take Murray to new heights.With each hay thrown, the guards seemed more determined to take their groups to the next.Round.
Among the highlights of the Golden State Warriors dynasty, the series of consecutive Finals between LeBron James and Kevin Durant, arguably the two most productive players in the world at the time.
Often paired, the two greats of all time presented the most unlikely figures in those nine games:
Durant on a much busier list. After joining a team that 73-9 last season, he went 8-1 against James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in the final two.
However, when splitting into a one-on-one match, it is much harder to claim which star is the best.
The same can be said of Mitchell and Murray’s first-round war.The first scored a little more, while the moment kept the edges in rebounds, assists and victories.
It is highly unlikely to say definitively who was the best, even though the Nuggets and their most sensible cast won the series.
If there are many long-term playoff games at play for Murray and Mitchell, they may be among those wonderful battles:
Walt Frazier v. Jerry West
These legendary guards faced each other three times in the final, Frazier averaged 18.9 points, 8.2 assists and 7.5 rebounds, while leading the New York Knicks to two titles, West had 25.0 points, 7.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the 17 games.
Larry Bird v Bernard King
Taking seven games, Larry Bird led the Boston Celtics over the New York Knicks in the 1984 Eastern Conference semi-finals with averages of 30.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.0 blocks.
Bernard King the main explanation for why the fight.He outsed to Bird with 29.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals, leading to a much less talented team than the maximum could have predicted.
Larry Bird vs. Dominique Wilkins
Four years later, Bird teamed up with the Atlanta Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins for one of the most iconic duels in league history.
For the series, Bird averages 26.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists. Wilkins went for 31.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
The highlight, of course, was Game 7.Wilkins had 47 points, but it wasn’t enough to overthrow the Celtics, as Jack McCallum wrote for Sports Illustrated.
“Nothing less than the transcendent fourth was Larry Bird’s in Atlanta on Sunday, and all the Boston Celtics obituaries that had been fit since October would have come to light.However, Bird controlled nine of his 10 goals on the pitch.Tries in the last 12 minutes to take Boston to a 118-116 victory …”
Larry Bird vs. Julius Erving
Do you feel a theme here? Julius “Dr. J” Erving, another Eastern Conference star who had a lot of cracks against Bird.He had a 12-12 record in the playoffs against Bird and averaged 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists against 22.1 points, 12.4 rebounds.and 5.5 Bird assists.
Michael Jordan v Isiah Thomas
The legend of Michael Jordan might not have taken her life without the adversity of Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons.
Believe it or not, IT has a record of goat wins (12-10) in the playoffs.
Michael Jordan v. 1990s
Like Bird in the 1980s, the next decade laden with elimination battles against a superstar.Jordan beat Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller and Karl Malone, among others.
Vince Carter v Allen Iverson
In the 2001 Eastern Conference semi-finals, two of the league’s dynamic offensive stars made a show.
Ai had 33.7 points, 6.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals, while Carter averaged 30.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.6 steals, 2.0 blocks and 1.9 steals.
Gilbert Arenas v LeBron James
In a war that sought Soulja Boy’s help, Gilbert Arenas for the first time gave LeBron James everything he and the Cleveland Cavaliers can do in the first circular of the 2006 Eastern Conference playoffs.
Agent Zero averaged 34.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals, his Washington Wizards fell to LeBron and his 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
Dirk Nowitzki v Tim Duncan
These two Western Conference stalwart have faced each other 33 times in the playoffs, with Tim Duncan winning 18 of those games.The climax of the rivalry would probably have reached in the semi-finals of the 2006 Western Conference.
In this seven-game series, Dirk led the Dallas Mavericks to victory with 27.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and Duncan may have been even better.He had 32.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.0 steals.
Dirk Nowitzki v Dwyane Wade
They weren’t very close, but Dirk and Dwyane Wade’s groups met twice another time in the late 2000s.
After Wade led the Miami Heat to a final victory in 2006 with 73 loose shots in the last 4 games, Dirk got his revenge in 2011.
Carmelo Anthony v Kobe Bryant
Two of the most sensible volume scorers of all time organized an offensive clinic at the 2009 Western Conference finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers dominated the Denver Nuggets in six games with 34.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists from Kobe Bryant.
However, Carmelo Anthony made it easy for him. He had 27.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists.