The Denver Nuggets defeated the Charlotte Hornets 129-115 in a performance that was lively even if it wasn’t always pretty. LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams didn’t play on the second half of a back-to-back, but the Hornets came to play and were down just one basket heading into the fourth quarter. They ran out of gas with only 19 points in that last frame, but Miles Bridges had 36 points and Josh Green added 19 in the attempt. Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 17 rebounds and 9 assists while setting a career-high in three-point attempts, and Jamal Murray added 34 points, but Denver’s defense was absent in this one. The Nuggets managed to overcome the rust from the All-Star Break as well as fitting in several players returning from injury, and Aaron Gordon had a particularly nice showing with 18 points and 7 boards. This was Denver’s ninth victory in a row, tying a Michael-Malone era (and therefore Nikola-Jokic era) record. A win is a win, and this win put Denver in second place alone in the Western Conference – not a bad way to kick off the stretch run of the regular season.
Game Flow
Jamal Murray turned the ball over to start the game on an attempted bounce pass in traffic to Nikola Jokic. Jusuf Nurkic scored first for Charlotte on a tip in, Jokic missed a 3, and Miles Bridges dunked the next time down for the Hornets. MPJ made a pair of free throws, Nick Smith Jr. buried a 3 in response to beat the shot clock, and Murray made a corner three off a Jokic assist. Nurkic made a paint bucket after Jokic missed a 3, but Nikola made the next deep shot while Nurkic missed his. Murray had a nice block in the paint and Jamal Murray made another deep shot to put Denver up 11-9 early. Bridges and Josh Green both hit shots to give the lead back to Charlotte though, while Christian Braun tried to end Nurkic on a transition dunk he couldn’t quite finish through contact. The Nuggets were a little slow and ineffective early, though, shooting from deep rather than going basket to basket. Murray made another 3 though, so it was working for some of them. Aaron Gordon rebounded a couple of his own misses to finally get a bucket as Denver started to find a little motor and Jamal Murray forced a turnover. Russell Westbrook came in off the bench and turned it over, but then found AG for a dunk the next time down. Jokic buried a pair of threes (his seventh deep attempt of the first quarter), but the Hornets kept attacking the rim and then a Bridges three closed Denver’s lead down to just one. Jokic made his first two-point attempt, Braun got a steal and a tough finish, and Zeke Nnaji hit a long corner two with his foot on the line. Denver closed the quarter strong with Jokic nailing his 4th three of the quarter and the Nuggets finishing up 38-30 after one.
After a few misses by both teams, Jamal Murray hit a scoop layup that Jusuf Nurkic answered for Charlotte. Murray’s attempted pass to DeAndre Jordan was too high, MPJ missed his fourth shot of the game, and Jamal’s pullup was answered by a couple of Seth Curry buckets that tied the game at 42. MPJ and Murray both missed threes as Denver was 2-of-10 from the field through 5 minutes of the second after a corner shot from Nnaji barely drew rim. After a timeout, Russ found Julian Strawther for a finish, then Julian grabbed a rebound and finished a Jokic assist for a 3. Jokic hit a fallaway, then found Russ for a bullying drive and a traditional 3-point play to put Denver up 52-42. Josh Green hit a Charlotte three to end the 10-0 Denver run, but Aaron Gordon powered up a finish in response. AG grabbed a tough rebound, then assisted Strawther on another deep 3. The Hornets had a nice little run making jumpers but a transition bucket from Braun put a stop to that, and then AG had another nice finish with his legs looking fully recovered after the break. Jamal Murray buried a three off a Jokic pass, but the Hornets had a couple of buckets on broken plays as the Nuggets didn’t have as nice a finish to this quarter but still went into the break up 66-58.
Josh Green beat the buzzer to open the scoring in the third quarter, while MPJ was 0-for-8 in the game after a couple of second half misses. Jamal made a jumper and Jokic cleaned up a Braun transition miss, but Nick Smith Jr. hit a jumper to keep the pressure on. Green and Murray exchanged threes, but Miles Bridges made one as well to cut the Denver lead to 75-69. AG made a three but Denver just refused to defend anybody. Bridges and Jokic exchanged threes next, Damion Baugh got a surprise finish, and MPJ made a pair of dunks to make up for his missing deep shot. The Hornets kept scoring though, and not even another power AG finish could deter them. Jokic made his sixth three-pointer of the game, AG had another finish at the rim, but Bridges but it to 92-88 as Denver just couldn’t get a stop. Bridges hit yet another 3 to cut it to one, Westbrook banked in a shot, and Strawther got a pair of free throws. Zeke Nnaji’s putback dunk kept Denver in the lead but barely at 99-96 through 3.
Strawther and Westbrook opened the final frame with a couple of threes despite sloppy play for the first couple of minutes by both teams. Nick Smith Jr. hit an elbow jumper for the Hornets, DeAndre Jordan forced home a dunk, then made a tip shot as Charlotte stayed cold from the field and DJ hoarded rebounds. Strawther rattled home a three, then missed his next attempt. Braun blew a finish at the rim but Charlotte kept missing everything as the back-to-back finally started to get to them. They made their second bucket of the quarter with 7 minutes gone but Denver was still up 112-101. Gordon made another tough tip-in, Charlotte got to the line, and Jokic had a nice transition finger-roll to keep Denver up 11. Smith made another pair of pull-ups but it was too little, too late as Mal had free throws and a step-back to match. Murray hit a Jokic-assisted three, Braun had a dunk finish in the final minute, and Denver won 129-115.
Final Thoughts
– Ugly wins are still wins. The Nuggets survived the rust of the All-Star Break, thanks to a full team effort – at least on offense. Denver’s defense was basically non-existent as they gave up 114 to a poor Charlotte offense that was on a back-to-back, but Denver fought through it. Aaron Gordon and DeAndre Jordan provided much-needed physicality inside, Joker and Mal had a big scoring punch. Hopefully the rust is all off now as Denver faces a stretch of much tougher competition, but these are the wins Denver needs to bank. This one wasn’t art, but it looks beautiful in the standings.
