The Nuggets used a 72-40 spurt over the second and third quarters to take control of the game and this tight series that saw each team win on the other’s home court.

Half of McGregor Square came dressed for church. The other half prayed for a miracle that never came. “I think it shows our persistence,” Charlie “Chuck” Friesleben told me early Saturday night before the first-ever dueling, simultaneous Nuggets-Avalanche Game 7s got off the ground. “And how you should never root against us. Because we’re so cool.”

The first two games went down to the wire with the Nuggets taking Game 1 in overtime and the Clippers pulling out Game 2 in a thriller to send the series back to Los Angeles tied at 1-1. Game 3 was a far more lopsided affair as the Clippers cruised to a 117-83 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.