The Denver Nuggets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 125-115 in a contest of offense between two injured teams. Denver built a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter thanks to a great bench effort (34 points from the reserves) but Nikola Jokic supplemented a quieter 17-point effort with 16 assists and 10 rebounds despite Memphis keying on him. The Grizzlies dared Peyton Watson to shoot and he got up 22 shots for 27 points to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. Jamal Murray led both teams with 29 points and added 8 assists. Jock Landale for the Grizzlies was great with 26 points and 10 boards off the bench as Zach Edey only played 6 minutes after taking a blow to the head early. Jaylen Williams added 22 points and Cam Spencer had 16, but the Grizzlies had the same problems getting stops late that have plagued them in multiple losses this year. Denver went to 7-2 on the road this year as they work on their rotations and figure out a way to survive without Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun.
Game Flow
Jokic won the tip over Zach Edey, Peyton Watson missed a couple of threes and Jamal missed a finish, then Memphis and Denver exchanged turnovers. Edey finally finished over Jokic, Spencer Jones and Watson both missed more threes, and Cam Johnson turned it over in transition after what looked like a foul but made his next transition dunk to tie the game at 2-2 with almost 3 minutes gone. The teams combined to go 2-of-13 until Jamal Murray hit a jumper. Jaylen Wells and Nikola Jokic exchanged threes, and Watson finished a Joker assist after Edey blocked his earlier shot to tie the game again at 9-9.
KCP came in the game and immediately buried a 3 against his former club, and Watson finally made a three to answer. Pope made free throws, Murray drilled a 3, and Cam Spencer hit a paint jumper to put Memphis back ahead. Watson got a dunk, Jock Landale made a dunk of his own, and both teams exchanged more misses on three-balls. Memphis went to a zone look and Jokic went inside for a traditional three-point play. Jamal Murray made a nice drive for a quick layup, then buried another 3 off a Jokic pass to get Denver a 25-18 lead with 10 from Murray himself. Jokic sat early and Jonas Valanciunas had an early turnover and trouble with corralling rebounds on both ends. Big Val missed a pair of tips on two missed layups, Jackson finished a 3 point play for Memphis, and Bruce Brown hit a floater at the end of the quarter to put Denver up 27-23 after one.
Landale hit a three over Denver’s zone and Coward hit a turnaround, but Bruce Brown got free throws and Tim Hardaway Jr. buried a pair of threes. John Konchar missed a three but Zeke Nnaji made his own three-point jumper to give Denver the 38-28 lead. Jonas and Landale exchanged finished, Landale blocked Bruce Brown’s shot and Santi Aldama missed a couple of shots while Valanciunas and Brown made a couple for Denver to get the lead back to 11. Cam Johnson got to the line as Jokic came back in, with the Grizzlies shooting only 3-for-16 until a Jaren Jackson Jr. dunk. Watson had a Jokic-assisted dunk, but Jokic missed a shot while Aldama made a hook in the paint over Murray. Jokic got the foul call he was not granted last time down and made both free throws, but Memphis answered with a pair of made threes. Murray finished a Denver layup, then Denver forced a turnover and Cam Johnson hit a 3 to get the lead to 11 again. Aldama made 2 free throws, Jamal made just one, and the feared sniper Jock Landale made yet another deep 3. Jamal hit a three of his own, Aldama and Cam Johnson hit offsetting layups, and Jaylen Wells made another Memphis three. Denver finally got a stop, Jokic made a free throw and Denver went into halftime up 62-54.
Vince Williams and Peyton Watson exchanged threes to open the third quarter, then Cam Johnson swished another for Denver after Watson saved the ball after his shot was blocked. Landale hit a nice little hook shot for the Grizzlies, then finished at the rim to close the gap to 7. The teams exchanged turnovers on offensive fouls, then Watson missed a three and Cam got the rebound and euro-step finish for the Nuggets. Denver couldn’t slow down the Memphis attack from deep as Jackson made a 3 also. Jamal finished a floater off the glass, Cam turned the ball over for Watson got a nice block on Jackson, then Cam missed a shot but Joker got the tip-in rebound and finish. Coward hit another 3 for Memphis, their 12th of the game, and Wells had a foot on the line or it would have been another deep make as Denver clung to a 74-69 lead halfway through the quarter.
The teams exchanged misses, then Bruce Brown finished Jokic’s 10th assist with a nice layup. Hardaway got to the line, but Denver just could not covert the 3 in the quarter. Watson answered with another 3 of his own, Wells banked in a shot and Tim Hardaway dunked an oop from Joker. Watson was on a heater and hit another three near the corner as he was shooting at every opportunity but Spencer hit another 3 for the Grizz. Watson hit his fourth 3 of the quarter, but he turned the ball over on an out-of-bounds by missing the pass from Jokic. Denver finally got a stop, but Watson couldn’t buy a foul on offense and both Jackson and Aldama made buckes to cut their deficit to three. Jokic missed but Watson tipped it in, THJ tied it up on the drive, and Jokic buried a 40 foot shot at the buzzer from the logo to make it 93-85 after they refused to give Jokic the take foul heading into the fourth.
Bruce Brown hit a three to open the scoring in the final frame, but the Grizzlies got the next 2 buckets and Zeke missed a corner 3 but Jamal hit his deep attempt. Jackson and Valanciunas exchanged buckets, and then Murray threw a behind-the-back pass to Zeke in the corner for his second 3 of the night to put Denver up 13. The clubs exchanged misses and bad ball control until Cam Johnson made a 3 and was fouled for the 4-point play. Memphis fired right back with a pair of threes though, and Landale blocked Cam’s shot then finished an oop on the other end to cut the lead back to single digits. Denver had 3 straight turnovers, Cam Spencer made a jumper, and it was 108-101 Denver. Watson missed a 3, Landale got to the line for the Grizzlies to get to a 20 / 10 night, and Jokic buried a 3 off a Jamal assist to at least stem the bleeding momentarily and stop the 12-0 Memphis run. Memphis sandwiched 2 buckets around a Murray 3 as the Nuggets struggled for stops just as they did in the Kings game. Jamal hit a three, Hardaway cut all the way to the rim for a layup as Memphis worried about Joker, Aldama hit a floater, and Jamal had his first turnover. Jokic had a great deflection off Aldama out of bounds, but Cam Johsnon turned the ball over to give Cam Spencer a bucket. Jokic made a spectacular behind-the-back pass to Watson for a great finish, then an assist on a Jamal dunk and a Watson finish, and Denver put away the Grizzlies at last, 125-115.
Final Thoughts
Good bench minutes help everything. The starters were slow to warm up and struggled from deep in the first. Jokic was not shooting much, only logging 9 recorded shots and finished with a +1, so Denver handily won the non-Jokic minutes which is a great change from past years. Denver struggled with defense especially on the three point line, and had a 17-point lead whittled down to just a couple of buckets, but without Aaron Gordon and and Christian Braun they are going to have to piece it together on both ends. Zeke Nnaji gave them impactful minutes with 6 points on two made threes plus 6 boards as well as some nice defense, and Hardaway and Brown found their rhythm tonight. Jamal had some nice assists to the reserves and nobody played scared of the moment. Denver wasn’t perfect tonight by any stretch – when you give up three 30-point quarters to the 25th-ranked offense missing 4 rotation players it was not at all pristine – but they figured it out in the moment and won it late by handling their business.
Peyton Watson was shot-ready. I don’t want him taking a career-high12 threes every night necessarily, but with the Grizzlies rolling to guys to Jokic at every opportunity Watson figured out to take the open shots and not quit, even though he missed his first 3. He has a corner three he can make in rhythm, he can cut to the rim. He opened the game with deep attempts and finished up at the rim in the fourth. Watson found his spots, kept taking those correct shots, and made Memphis pay. For him it’s all about finding consistency – harder to be a high-energy defender when you’re getting up nearly two dozen shots – and continuing to get to the right spots to be effective. This is the kind of learning curve that is going to get Peyton Watson paid though – and may make him the all-around threat Denver needs him to be in the playoffs in the process.
Denver needs this little break over Thanksgiving. Go get some sleep, fellas – you earned it. We’ll see you Friday after Turkey Day.
