Harris the unsung hero of grimy Game 7

The Denver Nuggets became just the 12th NBA team ever and the first in four years to rally back from a 3-1 series deficit, eliminating the Utah Jazz with an 80-78 Game 7 win. Here are four takeaways from the grimy contest (and frantic finish) that capped an unforgettable series.

Putting the D back in Denver

Denver's defensive resurgence over the final three games can be attributed to a number of factors.

Replacing rookie Michael Porter Jr., who the Jazz mercilessly targeted all series, with Jerami Grant in the starting lineup was an obvious defensive upgrade. Having Nikola Jokic be more aggressive in defending Utah's pick-and-rolls a bit higher up the floor helped. Of course, the Nuggets simply playing with the sense of urgency they lacked in Games 1-4 also didn't hurt.

The biggest difference, however, came in the form of a sorely needed reinforcement when the Nuggets welcomed Gary Harris back from a hip injury in Game 6.

Harris only played a combined 47 minutes off the bench in Games 6 and 7, but the way he transformed Denver's defense was evident. Whether it was putting the clamps on Jordan Clarkson, whose offensive punch off the bench often keeps Utah afloat, or making life difficult for Donovan Mitchell, Harris' presence helped stymie the Jazz.

The box score will tell you that Harris recorded two steals, two blocks, and eight personal fouls over the last two games, but it won't tell you how many Jazz possessions had to go deeper into the shot clock or how many times Utah was forced to bypass its first option on a given possession because of Harris' work both on and off the ball. Having spent much of the first five games scrambling after getting torched at the point of attack and watching Jazz guards parade into the paint, the Nuggets suddenly found themselves in good shape on the defensive end when Harris was on the floor.

In a series originally billed as a matchup between two star big men with differing styles, and a series that became defined by the unprecedented offensive exploits of Mitchell and Jamal Murray, it's ironic that Harris' defense made the difference with the game on the line.

The Joker gets the last laugh

Nikola Jokic's numbers in this series were never really an issue, but Denver's best player slogged through the first half of this Western Conference quarterfinal with a lack of spirit that embodied the Nuggets as a whole. In the fourth quarter of Game 7, he and the rest of Denver's frontline were being bodied by Rudy Gobert. Unlike earlier in the series, however, Jokic continued to push through and expend energy on the defensive end, and when his team needed him to close out a one-possession game in a winner-take-all scenario, The Joker answered the call.

With the Nuggets trailing by two and struggling to generate any offense, Jokic went on a mini-run late in the fourth quarter that saw him score a layup, find a cutting Torrey Craig for a layup when double-teamed on the following possession, then drop a floater for another bucket the next time down the floor. Over a span of one minute and twenty-four seconds - from the 5:23 mark to the 3:59 mark - the Nuggets went from down two to up two, with Jokic at the center of all six points of a 6-2 run.

That may not sound like much, but in a grind-it-out Game 7, getting three straight buckets must've felt like a hot streak for the Nuggets, who would never trail again. Jokic then topped it all off with this mesmerizing, series-winning hook shot over Gobert:

A moment of appreciation for Murray, Mitchell

They combined for just 39 points on 16-of-43 shooting Tuesday night, with Murray clearly hampered by the second-quarter charley horse that Joe Ingles delivered, and Mitchell coughing up a last-minute turnover - one of his nine on the night - but let's not forget the show that these two youngsters put on for us over the last couple weeks.

Through the first six games, they combined to average nearly 73 points on 57-56-93 shooting, with both going off for multiple 50-point games. Mitchell made a mockery of Denver's defense early in the series, while Murray resuscitated the Nuggets' season with some of the most ridiculous clutch shot-making you could ask for down the stretch of Games 5 and 6.

It's a shame neither player could cap it off with an epic finale, but Murray and Mitchell treated viewers to some absolutely sensational stuff in what will go down as a postseason duel for the ages.

The level of mutual respect between the two at the conclusion of Game 7 was as admirable as it was palpable.

A fitting end for Utah

The Jazz were a model of inconsistency and unrealized expectations all year, so it's only right that they stormed ahead 3-1 after blowing the series opener, only to lose three consecutive games to end their season.

Mike Conley, whose inability to find a groove was a key factor in the Jazz's frustrating campaign, went 2-of-13 in Game 7. His hesitancy to let it fly late in the contest hampered the team's offense. After showing signs of life earlier in the series, Ingles once again looked like the guy who had lost a step throughout the season. Gobert had moments of brilliance on both ends but was ultimately outdone by a more offensively impactful big man. Clarkson was fine, but the fact that Utah became so reliant on his bench scoring was indicative of the bigger issues at play, especially with Bojan Bogdanovic skipping the restart to undergo wrist surgery.

Despite turnovers proving to be his undoing in Game 7, Mitchell was otherwise brilliant in a series that defined his overall improvements this season. But it wasn't enough to prop up the dysfunctional Jazz, which in and of itself was reminiscent of Utah's 2019-20 campaign as a whole.