Adelman praised his team's resilience after a tough loss.
The Denver Nuggets needed a win, and while it wasn't always pretty, Denver held on for a 128-125 victory over the Jazz in Salt Lake City to improve to 38-24 on the season.
The Nuggets have been banged up all year long, and they came into Monday's game shorthanded once again with Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones all sidelined.
Despite that, they found a way to gut out a close one on the road, and head coach David Adelman was all about it afterward.
Adelman Keeps It Real Postgame
"Wins are wins. Losses are losses. We would have beat OKC and Caruso misses that three and we lose tonight. What's the difference? We're just trying to win, get ourselves to a good place," Adelman said postgame. "So just proud of the guys just staying with it. There was no panic."
Adelman was referencing last Friday's overtime loss to the Thunder, a game where Denver blew a 16-point lead and Alex Caruso hit a clutch three to force extra time before OKC pulled away.
That one stung, and it would have been easy for the Nuggets to let the frustration carry over into their matchup with an 18-43 Jazz squad.
Instead, they stayed locked in and took care of business when the game got tight down the stretch.
Murray Catches Fire in Utah
Jamal Murray was the biggest reason Denver walked away with the win, pouring in 45 points on 13-of-19 shooting while going 8-of-13 from three and 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
He also dished out eight assists and looked like the best version of himself from start to finish.
Murray has been playing at an All-Star level all season, and his numbers back it up as he's putting up 25.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from deep.
Nikola Jokic took a bit of a backseat by his standards, but he still finished with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds to go along with five assists and two blocks.
Jokic is averaging a triple-double on the season at 28.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game, and the fact that the Nuggets can win games like this one where he doesn't have to carry the full load says a lot about how far Murray has come.
Jonas Valanciunas added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench, and Jalen Pickett chipped in eight points on two made threes as the supporting cast did just enough to help seal it.
Can Denver Challenge OKC When Healthy?
The bigger question for the Nuggets heading into the final stretch of the regular season is whether they can get healthy enough to truly challenge the Thunder in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City sits at 48-15 and has the best record in the league, but Denver has shown all season that they can hang with anybody when they have their guys available.
Gordon and Watson are both expected to return within the next week or two, and getting those two back would give the Nuggets the kind of two-way depth that makes them dangerous in a seven-game series.
Denver already has the best offensive rating in the league at 121.4, and that's been without their full lineup for most of the year.
When you pair Jokic's generational playmaking with Murray's scoring punch, add in Gordon's defense and Watson's emerging all-around game, this is a team that has the ceiling to compete with anyone in the West come playoff time.
The Nuggets still have work to do, but wins like Monday night in Utah are exactly what Adelman was talking about.
No panic, just keep stacking wins and get to a good place before the postseason arrives.