There was one more contest to be played on the hardwood in Las Vegas for the Denver Nuggets this Summer. Despite already being eliminated from the Summer League competition, Denver still had a game to play against the Toronto Raptors to finish out their total of five contests. Neither of Denver’s draft picks, Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins, suited up and instead there was a long look for some long shots at making an NBA roster. It wasn’t the greatest contest of basketball but the Nuggets got enough from their deep Summer bench to outlast the Raptors and finish their trip to Vegas with a 96-89 W.

The Nuggets offense was pretty painful to watch opening the game, it took them over a minute and a half to get a shot attempt. They did have four turnovers and a pair of goaltends though. The Raptors didn’t take full advantage of Denver’s poor play, they too looked like a team playing their last game of Summer League. Mark Sears and Erik Stevenson played aggressive and Jahm’ius Ramsey hit a couple threes to keep the Nuggets in the game. The teams traded threes with the quarter winding down and Toronto staying a bucket or two in front. The first closed out with a new lineup in the game for Denver who struggled to score and gave up an 8-0 run. A three for T.J. Bamba finally stopped it and the Nuggets finished the first trailing 29-23.

The Nuggets got a couple buckets but they still weren’t able to gain any ground on the Raptors in the opening part of the second quarter. The bench group continued to look disjointed but used the three to stay in the game. Eventually the starting unit came back in and looked a little smoother. Toronto also went cold from the floor. The Nuggets got back within two points halfway through the quarter. The Raptors had a clear height advantage though which was keeping the Nuggets from completing their first half comeback while Toronto dunked some alley-oops. They were able to string a couple more threes together than their opponent though and kept chipping away until they tied the game at 45 with under a minute to play. Toronto got one more bucket and Sears got to the free throw line. The game went to the locker room all tied 47-47.

Denver’s formula on offense seemed to be threes and fouls and that didn’t change as they opened the third quarter. Coleman Hawkins had a couple good moments, first hitting a deep three and then blocking an opposing seven footer. He got a steal shortly after that. The Nuggets got their first lead of note behind Hawkins and Ramsey. They pushed it up to nine while continuing to draw fouls on Toronto. Meanwhile the Raptors struggled with the Nuggets zone defense while the lead reached double digits. Eventually Denver’s offense went cold with their lead hovering around ten. A couple more threes kept it up closing out the quarter and the third ended with the Nuggets scoring 30 points and up 77-67.

The shots weren’t falling for Denver or Toronto in the early part of the fourth but the Nuggets were able to keep their lead up above ten. The Raptors offense broke loose first with their superior length and they started chipping away at the Nuggets lead. Midway through the quarter they pulled back within single digits while Denver struggled to find consistent scoring. They did find enough stops, or perhaps just enough tired legs, to keep the comeback from completely overtaking them. Hawkins had another nice block while the Nuggets clung to the lead. There was lots of energy with it being a four point contest and less than a minute to go. J.J. Barea got Denver a free throw by lobbying for a delay of game call and they closed out the fourth with a couple dunks and a 96-89 lead.

Final Thoughts

Always good to go out on a win

It was not a pretty game by any means tonight and it was the ultimate Sickos Only scenario with no one playing for Denver that’s likely to wear a Nuggets uniform come October. They earned the victory through a team effort though with multiple guys chipping in on the offensive end. Four out of five of Denver’s starters ended up scoring double digits with several bench players having some nice moments as well. These guys are still chasing that NBA dream and while it won’t likely happen with the Nuggets this year, a number of them helped their case with some good tape.