Most teams have a go-to mantra when they huddle up and put their hands together in the air.

Win or lose, the Nuggets have yelled “Family,” in unison after coach Michael Malone addresses the team in the postgame locker room.

“Family means you got each other’s backs. Good times and bad times, up 20 and down 20. If a guy is 0 for 10 or 10 for 10, you know, family is unconditional love,” Malone said after Monday’s thrilling 101-99 win over the Lakers.

“We have had just so many examples of that in my nine years, but this is a really connected group. They share in the other person’s success. There is no ‘Me’ in that locker room,” Malone said. “It’s ‘We,’ and that’s what a family is about.”

They also share each other’s struggles. Jamal Murray started the fourth quarter 3 for 16 from the field, and the Nuggets trailed by as many as 20, before he hit the franchise’s first postseason game-winning buzzer beater.

“I had a rough stretch in the third, and my team was really picking me up,” Murray said. “If it wasn’t for my teammates, it could’ve been a different game. I appreciate every single one of them. Every single of them told me to keep shooting.”

That bond has never been more meaningful than the last couple of weeks. Michael Porter Jr. has seen one of his brothers banned from the NBA for gambling violations and another sentenced to six years in prison following a fatal, drunk-driving car crash. Porter said after Game 1 he received individual messages from each of his teammates, offering their support. Despite the tough circumstances surrounding him, Porter’s averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 block in the first two games of the series while shooting 57.1% from the field and 52.9% from 3. He nailed the tying 3-pointer with just over a minute left and came up with the defensive rebound that preceded Murray’s game-winner.

“It’s a small detail, but I think that rebound was really big. He had nine rebounds, but that rebound, specifically, was a big one,” Nikola Jokic said. “He shot the ball really well today. I think people like trying to attack him defensively, but I think he’s getting better. He knows how to use his size.”

The figurative family also includes the literal ones. Jokic’s older brother Strahinja waited outside Denver’s tunnel at halftime to make sure little bro was all right after an awkward fall in the first half.

“It’s good,” Jokic said. “Everything is OK, so it was just a lot of people in one place.”

Murray appeared to make a gesture toward his father, Roger, as his shooting struggles continued into the third quarter. Dad and his figurative brothers on the bench had the same encouraging message.

“That’s exactly what I needed. They wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t show that kind of emotion on the bench. Yeah, just in my own head a little bit and I have my pops in the stands, too. He talked to me at halftime, and I talk to him throughout the game all the time,” Murray said.

“It was everybody that wanted me to stay aggressive.”

The father watched his son’s triumphant on-court interview just out of frame. Then, it was back to the locker room for Malone’s postgame message. Denver’s coach singled out Murray’s productive fourth quarter, assistant coach Ryan Saunders’ implementation of a cross-matching defensive scheme, Jokic’s massive triple-double and Aaron Gordon’s defense on Anthony Davis, who didn’t score for the final 19 minutes.

Then, Malone encouraged his team to stay hungry as the series shifts to Los Angeles for Thursday’s Game 3 and called the team to the center of the locker room. As he was getting to the mantra, one player, possibly Murray, shouted out the bench’s performance as hands went up in the air.

“We don’t win this game without everybody in this locker room,” Malone said. “Family on three – one, two, three.”

The team responded, stretching out family’s final syllable to extend the special night just a little longer.