[ad_1]
DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to beat the depleted Toronto Raptors 125-119 on Monday.
Murray added 12 assists to go along with Nikola Jokic’s 21st triple-double of the season. Jokic finished with 35 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists to help Denver improve to 9-1 since the All-Star break.
Jokic, who has 126 career triple-doubles, also had six steals, four of them in the third quarter, as the Nuggets outscored Toronto 42-30.
“He just does a really good job of anticipating and taking advantage of angles,” Murray said. “It’s less about being in the spot, but about playing the angle and the line of the pass. Shout out to Jok.”
The Raptors were without Scottie Barnes (broken left hand), Chris Boucher (knee), Gary Trent Jr. (groin strain) and Immanuel Quickley (hip flexor), plus Jakob Poeltl was out after a surgery on the left little finger.
That gave younger, less-used players a chance to get meaningful minutes, including Jontay Porter, the younger brother of Michael Porter Jr. It’s the first time the brothers have played in the same NBA game.
“I was really happy for Jontay,” Porter Jr. said. “Not just his presence, but the way he played. It was a special moment being there together.”
Jontay Porter scored a career-high 14 points, Kelly Olynyk scored 24 and Bruce Brown, who helped the Nuggets win the NBA title last season, had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Toronto.
The Raptors took a 22-point lead at the end of the second quarter and 68-51 at halftime. Denver rallied in the final minutes of the third to cut a 21-point deficit to 98-93.
“In an NBA game, you’re either up 20 or down 20, the game is never over,” Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. “I know when they came out after halftime they were going to be more aggressive, and how to handle those moments is a learning opportunity for us.”
The Nuggets trailed 107-104 with 7:59 left, but scored eight straight points to take the lead for good. RJ Barrett, who had 26 points and nine assists for Toronto, cut the score to 121-119, but a three-pointer by Michael Porter Jr. with 1:02 left sealed the score.
“We knew our energy was a lot better than in the first half and that would get us back in the game,” Murray said. “I don’t know when we took the lead, I got distracted. “We did a good job of not messing with the score, just playing hard.”
The Raptors scored just 21 points in the fourth quarter and missed all four of their 3-point attempts.
“You can’t trade baskets when you’re down 20, so something has to improve,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “We finally got the defense back in the game.”
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Raptors: At Detroit on Wednesday night.
Nuggets: In Miami on Wednesday night.
___
NBA AP: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA
[ad_2]
Source link