The 2012-13 Denver Nuggets were a team that had the personnel to make a legitimate run at the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy. With Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari scoring buckets, Andre Iguodala and Kenneth Faried bringing the pain on defense, and Corey Brewer and Andre Miller anchoring the team’s bench mob, the Nuggets were a well-balanced squad that was a force to be reckoned with.
However, their biggest challenge came in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs when they faced off against the Golden State Warriors and their young star point guard, Stephen Curry. According to Miller, it was during that series that he learned how special the Chef was going to be.
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The ball went through the hoop differently
The NBA has had plenty of tremendous shooters grace its hardwood floors. Miller, though, said he immediately knew how different Steph and his fellow “Splash Brother,” Klay Thompson, were by looking at the way the ball went through the hoop. While some shooters rattled in jumpers, theirs went straight and through the basket, the net barely moving.
“That’s when I knew him and Klay… man, that ball was just going through the hoop different,” Miller said during his appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast. “You know, like, we all know shooters: Ray Allen, Stojakovic. But the way their ball went through the basket? It didn’t even hit the net.”
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That series proved to be Steph’s coming-out party, as he averaged 24.3 points on 44 percent shooting from beyond the arc, 4.3 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, highlighted by two 30-plus point explosions.
“I was so upset because I felt like we could beat them. We had a nice squad. But that kid, that kid… he’s different,” Miller stated. “At one point, I didn’t even guard him anymore. I was like, ‘Let me go guard Jarrett Jack or something.’ You know? Like, all of them were good, but this guy right here…”
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Miller’s best chance at a title
Miller emphasized that the Nuggets squad was armed to the teeth everywhere he looked in the locker room. But while Curry indeed made mincemeat out of their defense, he let on that what ultimately defeated them was their own head coach, George Karl.
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“What’s crazy is I felt that team we had in Denver was probably my best team,” he conveyed. “But George Karl, man, he was practicing us so hard for like six months. And right before the playoffs started, Gallinari tore his ACL — and Gallinari was our best player.”
“Right before the playoffs started, I told George Karl, ‘Look here, man, these guys’ bodies are tired.’ He said, ‘Oh, we got to get work in,'” Dre continued. “We played the Dallas Mavericks in Denver, and Gallo blew out his knee.”
Injuries are a crucial part of the postseason experience. Regardless of how well a team plays in the regular season, their playoff success can be heavily influenced by the health of their players, and there’s really nothing anyone can do about that except pray. Curiously, the same can be said about Curry in that series, in that all the Nuggets could do was pray that he miss, which rarely happened.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.