Too angry and embarrassed to sleep, Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari must stare down a tough question: Did the pain of his NBA playoff experience help him grow, or expose him as a performer who shrinks in big moments?

“I had a bad night. It’s my nature, and I was given this by my parents, to live for those big moments. I want big games to prove to myself that I’m a winner and not a loser,” Gallinari told me Monday, still in agony more than 36 hours after a 96-87 loss that eliminated Denver from the postseason.