Jamal Murray might be the Robin to Nikola Jokic’s Batman, but Aaron Gordon is the muscle of that operation. He’s the brute force that powers an otherwise finesse team.
Gordon’s physicality has been key to the Nuggets’ continued dominance of the Lakers. Be it crashing the boards, guarding LeBron James and Anthony Davis on switches, or stopping short any chance the Lakers have had to get transition buckets, Gordon has “big-boyed” the Lakers through and through.
As such, any sort of offensive production that Gordon brings is almost a luxury to Denver. And when he scores at least 20 points, the defending champions are literally unbeatable. The Nuggets are 5-0 in playoff games when Gordon reaches the scoring threshold. Thursday’s Game 3 win was the latest instance.
