In the last great act of defiance the Nuggets refused to kowtow in the Dusty Old Cowtown to the Warriors.

There was giddyup, not give up Sunday afternoon. The Nuggets live for another game.

Never has an NBA team overcome a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series. Nevertheless, the Nuggets did overcome two 3-1 deficits in the postseason in 2020. This series is now 3-1.

Ahem.

Burn those brooms, Bay City basketball.

In all their playoff series in franchise history against such opposing players as Kobe, Kareem, Kawhi, Kevin, Dr. J, Magic and The Mailman, the Nuggets of the past did not show more heart and soul than they did in Game 4 vs. Curry, Clay and Jordan – The Splish Splash Bros – and Draymond Green, who was merely a loud, useless cheerleader standing by the bench at the finish.

Nuggets 126, Warriors 121, but it was thiscloser . The Nuggets trailed 121-119 before scoring the final six points in the final 60 seconds.

Oh, yes, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 65 points. But the Nuggets turned Jordan Poole, the MVP of the first three games, into an invisible man; Green fouled out; Andrew Wiggins missed a slam-bam dunk in the sweltering stretch; and the rest of the Warriors were Las Vegas lounge lizards.

Looking for Nuggets heroes? Look here:

*Well, this guy Nikola Jokic was his usual MVP self and load-bearing leader of the Nuggets. He didn’t make the winning shot, but he made the winning pass, and a section of I-70 over the mountains should be called Jokic Pass.

*Will Barton, who had made only one of seven field goals (and one three-pointer), wristed the ball into the basket from the baseline with 7.9 seconds remaining to really cause the Warriors to surrender. Will was The Thrill.

*Monte Morris converted five of five from beyond the arc in the third quarter to prevent the Nuggets from allowing the Warriors to totally take control in the second half like the predicament in the first three games.

*Rookie Bones Hyland, who seemed as if the playoffs were too big for him in back-to-back-to-back games, nailed three consecutive three-pointers and scored 15 points to grow up before the eyes of a full house at Ball Arena that was equally divided between Nuggets fanatics and fickle interlopers drooling for the Warriors.

*Aaron Gordon had been a disappearing act throughout much of the series, but was a man on a mission Sunday defensively against Poole, who ended up with only 11 points (3 of 10) after being the Warriors’ No. 1 scorer in the series, and offensively with his playoff high 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.

*Boogie Cousins played just 10 minutes, but what an eventful 10 minutes. His box score of 10 points and four rebounds, with four fouls and a technical, won’t impress. But the old man clawed and chewed and coaxed and reminded even the Warriors of when he was one of the superior stars in the league. He was a warrior against the Warriors. Bring back Boogie next season.

*Austin Rivers, too. He made only one field goal, a three-pointer, but was a defensive demon when the Warriors were planning to close out the series.

The Nuggets had the Magnificent Seven on their side. They saved the series from the bad guys.

Sure, the Warriors will win at some point soon, as we all assumed they would, and the Nuggets will not reach May in the postseason, but they can be proud of themselves for surviving without – as everyone is aware – Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

Yet, Michael Malone proved that he deserved a new contract to be the Nuggets coach for another two-three-six seasons. He was in control over Steve Kerr Sunday.

When Thompson converted his second three-pointer early to provide the Warriors with a 13-6 advantage, his teammates on the sideline were dancing, jumping and partying as if the series already were concluded, and the Nuggets could have quit. When the Warriors made a regular run before halftime, the Nuggets could have quit. When the Warriors roared back to grab the lead with under two minutes to go, the Nuggets could have quit.

But the Nuggets didn’t acquiesce.

They won one. A great one.