Welcome to the Nuggets' golden age, unless ...

... Michael Porter Jr. can't figure out how to consistently contribute.

Good morning. Sorry for the late notice on Friday’s newsletter getting moved to Saturday. Let’s basketball.

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Horse in the Shade of a Wood; George Stubbs; 1780

The Denver Nuggets just won an NBA Finals game:

• on the road

• with Michael Porter Jr. continuing to be ice cold from deep (0/4, 3/19 for the series)

• with Nikola Jokic shooting just 8/19 from the floor with only four assists

• and with Jamal Murray shooting just 5/17 from the floor.

Miami keyed up its defense to throw bodies and be physical with Jokic and Murray, and Porter’s confidence looks shaken. And because Murray has a Jokician tendency to find open teammates, and because the Nuggets all believe in cutting and moving even when it means getting bludgeoned by defenders, Denver was able to get plenty of offense when it needed it and win Game 4.

Aaron Gordon went ballistic in the second and third quarters (24 in that spread, a game-high 27 for the game). Bruce Brown cleared the table in the fourth (11 points) while playing over Porter with in a tiny line-up with Jokic facing foul trouble.

Meanwhile, the Denver defense hit the level they needed to hit: Gordon is doing a much better job on Butler than anyone on the Bucks, Knicks or Celtics consistently did, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was locked in, Murray worked to match Miami’s physicality (something more opponents should do!) and everyone — even Porter — is fighting. It doesn’t always work, and Jokic kicked at least four backdoor passes, which … tangent time …