Nuggets avoid elimination in Game 4 vs. Warriors, look to recreate 3-1 deficit magic

Don't count the Nuggets out just yet.

Facing a first-round sweep at the hands of the Warriors, the Nuggets withstood a late-game run to escape with a 126-121 Game 4 win. Now, things head back to The Bay as the Warriors hold a 3-1 series lead over the Nuggets.

Stop me if you've heard this before.

This Denver team is no stranger to defying odds. In addition to earning the West's sixth seed with a 48-34 record without two key players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets are less than two years removed from making NBA Playoff history.

Led by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, Denver became the first team to ever overcome two 3-1 series deficits in the same postseason during the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

MORE: From the bench, Jokic calls out Warriors' lob in pivotal closing seconds to keep series alive

With the Nuggets back in familiar territory, it's hard not to acknowledge the prospect of them coming back from 3-1 once again.

Down 3-1?

Been here before... pic.twitter.com/ui0f4rlbkB

— x - Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 24, 2022

Nuggets down 1-3.

Congratulations to them for advancing to the second round. pic.twitter.com/6gX8GrXfWz

— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 24, 2022

This time, of course, is a bit different. Denver started out down 3-0, which is a deficit that no NBA team has ever come back from to win a series.

It's not 3-0 anymore, though, meaning the Nuggets can now look to employ whatever magic they called upon in 2020.

Michael Malone

“We don’t want to just go back to San Francisco. We wanna bring it back. Of all the teams in the playoffs, we know what it’s like to come back from 3-1.” @nuggets

— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) April 24, 2022

It helps that Jokic, Murray, Porter and Monte Morris remain from that team. While Murray and Porter are inactive, they know what it takes. Will Barton was also a member of that 2020 team but was inactive in the bubble due to injury.

The Nuggets are already in the business of making history, so they can now shoot to become the first-ever NBA team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

Want to add a little more fuel to the fire? The last four successful comebacks from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Playoffs have involved either the Nuggets or the Warriors.

In addition to Denver's two comebacks in 2020, Golden State overcame a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 Western Conference Finals to advance to the 2016 NBA Finals, where it relinquished a 3-1 series lead to Cleveland — the only blown 3-1 series lead in NBA Finals history.

Perhaps there was more to Denver's magic in 2020, as all games were played at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. In addition to Disney World being where magic happens, all games were played in a neutral location, meaning the Nuggets did not have to deal with travel or the crowds of opposing teams.

This time around, the Nuggets can send the series back to Denver with a Game 5 win in San Francisco. If the Nuggets can extend the series once again, the pressure could begin to mount for the Warriors.

Golden State will look to eliminate Denver in Game 5 on Wednesday, April 27 at 10 p.m. ET.

Teams to overcome 3-1 series deficits, NBA Playoff history

In NBA Playoff history, a team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit 13 times, with the Nuggets doing so most recently in the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals.