NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 1, 2023

Aaron Gordon

Denver Nuggets

Game 1: Postgame

Nuggets 104, Heat 93

Q. Jamal was in here talking about how the offense is more read and react and making plays off of certain sets. Do you think that's the beauty in your guys' offense, is that anyone can cook on any given night?

AARON GORDON: Yeah. I mean, it's equal opportunity for the most part. But we're going through big fella. So big fella makes the right play, makes the right read, and he's just so smart, he's so cerebral out there, such a floor general, and Mal is floor general, too. If you make the right read or make the right cut or set the right screen, you're going to be open, and the ball moves, the ball finds the open man. The open man is the right play, and that's how we play the game, and it's a fun way to play.

Q. Coach said you got the Defensive Player of the Game chain tonight. You talked about guarding Jimmy coming into this series. What did you see from that matchup tonight, and what allowed you to be so successful?

AARON GORDON: Well, it's really a team effort. I think the Defensive Player of the Game could have gone to Michael Porter, too. He really stepped up on the defensive end.

We're switching a lot. Everybody is helping. We're shrinking. We're stunting for the stunter. It's not just a one-on-one game. I've been saying that all week. It's a team effort to slow that guy [Jimmy Butler] down.

Q. Coach said that you don't always get the credit that you deserve. Obviously, you could be starring on another team, but instead you come here, you're playing behind Nikola, Jamal and taking obviously the challenge of guarding the best guy every single night. What has that process been like for you, and do you feel like you get the credit you deserve?

AARON GORDON: I'm not here for the credit. I'm here for the wins. Playing with guys like the guys that are on this team is just a blessing. It's a beautiful opportunity to play with guys on the team that have so much talent, have so much skill and have so much passion for the game of basketball. That's what I've always loved is to play the right way of basketball, and we do that here.

I don't care if I score 50 or 0, as long as I'm helping impact the game and we're winning.

Q. Your defensive assignments in these playoffs, people might talk about for 50 years if you pull it off, Towns, KD, LeBron and Jimmy Butler. Do you have time to reflect on this?

AARON GORDON: Not yet. Not yet. I'm definitely going to be sitting in my rocking chair when I'm 79, 90 years old, talking to my kids like, back in the day I locked these guys up.

It's just part of the game. I'm doing what my team needs me to do, and like I said, it's a team effort. It always is. It takes five guys out there to play a complete defense.

Q. This offense is so free flowing, but at the start of the game, they clearly liked your matchup and give you the ball and almost you got to play bully ball. Did that feel like your old Orlando Magic days? And does that show that this offense can adjust to anything and any matchup, no matter who it is and tonight is a perfect example of winning in so many different ways?

AARON GORDON: No, this is just Denver Nugget basketball. We find a mismatch, we exploit it, and we keep going to it.

I was just taking what the defense was giving me and just attacking what I felt was a mismatch.

Q. Talking about taking what the defense gives you, Jamal Murray, 18 points, second half six assists. Wondering what you saw from him in that regard and what that gave you in Game 1?

AARON GORDON: Loved his pace tonight, just the pace that he played all night long, the tempo that he played at, controlling the game and controlling the flow of the game was great. His timely shot-making and his distribution of the basketball was very important, very crucial for this win.

Q. What does it take to be a good defender in this league, and how is Michael Porter Jr. advancing towards that?

AARON GORDON: Well, you've got to want it, first and foremost. A lot of guys don't really care about the defensive side of the floor. Just effort, the want, the energy. That's where it starts.

Then after that, it takes knowing the personnel, and then it takes technique.

Q. On Michael Porter Jr.

AARON GORDON: Mike played an incredible game tonight. Just so well rounded and so balanced. Affected the game in so many different areas, and he's just getting better and better on the defensive end.

Q. Nikola didn't take a lot of shots, at least until the fourth quarter, but it seemed like he played with a lot of force and physicality. Is that something you've always known about him, is that something that you guys feed off of, is that sort of an underrated quality to his game, how physical he is and how much that can wear an opponent down?

AARON GORDON: Oh, most definitely. He's a force down there, and he's just more athletic than people give him credit for, and he just has a ridiculous motor. He has a motor that just doesn't quit. It's tough guarding a guy like that.

Q. The Nuggets have been an NBA team since 1976. This is the team's first game in the NBA Finals. What did you think of the crowd?

AARON GORDON: It was awesome. The crowd was super cool tonight. It was just like -- it was beautiful. I took a moment during the National Anthem was like wow, this is really the NBA Finals, and it's really, really cool. The crowd was in it from the start, giving us that extra juice. They've been awesome all year, and they just turned it up another notch.

Q. I remember you saying Christmas night was the most fun game of the year, having that conversation. It really did look like you guys were having fun out there, and I'm wondering if tonight topped that and how you felt when the game was really coming to you in the first quarter?

AARON GORDON: Yeah, it's just an exciting brand of basketball. It's a lot of fun out there just to be battling with my guys. Yeah, winning is always fun, too.

Q. Was it a little bit more even fun than you expected it to be once it started rolling?

AARON GORDON: No, I think I was pretty prepared. I was really excited, but it was very fun out there.

Q. Everyone said that you had a great night on defense, but you have a good offensive first half, too. When Bam goes out from the ring and goes to get the defense to Jokic, did you see an opportunity to make your impact in the offense tonight? Someone told you something or did you see it by yourself?

AARON GORDON: No, just taking advantage of my physicality out there. Like I said, just taking what the defense was giving me and just trying to put my head down and get to the cup, avoid charges, and just really set the tone for our team.

Q. Was there a concerted effort to impose your size, given that Miami is a smaller team and you and Mike have pretty distinct advantages with your size and strength?

AARON GORDON: Most definitely. You've got to play to your advantages at this time of year and all the time. I was just looking to play to my advantages.

Q. You guys looked incredibly poised in that first quarter. Most of you haven't been to the Finals before, most of you haven't played on this stage. Why do you think you've been able to hold your poise so well tonight and throughout the Playoffs when the lights are at their brightest?

AARON GORDON: I think it's a standard that we hold ourselves to and that we have held ourselves to all year long. We've been building habits day in and day out. So, you get to a game like this, the biggest stage in basketball, you let your standard of play and you let your habits carry you.

We don't want to change too much. We want to go back to the film and look where we can get better. If we're looking to improve, I think we're in a good place.

Q. Jamal had two kind of standstill dunks in the first quarter. What did you think about those?

AARON GORDON: I was surprised. I was like, whoa, my man got VertiMax, man. Not the usual dunk. But Jamal is like a sleepy athlete. He will dunk you for real. That was crazy. It was like, yeah, all vert.

Q. When he's that engaged, what do you think he's proven this entire season and this postseason specifically coming back the way he has from the injury?

AARON GORDON: Well, Blue Arrow is one of the best guards in the league and one of the best scorers in the league. He has a way about him, he has a discipline about him that when he's locked in, when he's engaged, he's up there with the best players in the world.