The Denver Nuggets came into tonight on a nine game road winning streak. They stretched it to ten against the Charlotte Hornets who have now lost eight straight against the Nuggets. Jamal Murray had a massive first half, Nikola Jokic was a rebound shy of a triple double and the Nuggets used a strong fourth quarter to put away the Hornets. They get the victory 115-106.
The Nuggets weren’t hitting many shots to open the game, but Murray got a couple while the Hornets struggled. Eventually Charlotte’s offense settled in and went on a run to briefly take the lead before Murray responded with an and-1. Denver kept in front by a point for a bit with Jokic scoring the points. The Nuggets started to pull away with their bench checking in but Murray and Jokic still running the offense and Jamal in particular getting hot. Charlotte responded by bombing threes and quickly got back within 1. The Hornets got the lead back again but Murray was single handedly going back and forth with the entire Charlotte team. He ended the quarter with 23 points and the game tied at 34.
Jokic opened the second on the bench but Denver got a strong effort from Jonas Valanciunas. He helped build a small Nuggets lead but once again the Hornets had a response. They tied the game before both offenses went cold for a couple minutes. Charlotte found their stroke first and got a small lead. The starters checked back in, Murray immediately got a floater and they settled the Nuggets offense back down. Denver couldn’t stop the Hornets from hitting threes on the other end though, and that perpetually kept them from building a lead. Jokic didn’t score much in the first half, but he hit a pair of threes late in the quarter to keep the game close. At the end of the half Charlotte led 58-57.
The Hornets kept firing away from three and built their lead early in the third quarter before the Nuggets responded. They started draining threes (Spencer Jones!) and running the court, that led to a 10-0 run and forced a Charlotte timeout. They eventually stropped Denver’s run but the Nuggets kept a lead right around a half dozen. Peyton Watson got some points to carry Denver’s offense through the midway point of the quarter. Tim Hardaway Jr. also got some points for Denver off the bench as they maintained their lead down the stretch. Charlotte continued to hit threes to keep the Nuggets from running away with it however and the lead stayed right around six. At the end of the third Denver led 87-81.
The Nuggets offense wasn’t exactly crisp to start the fourth quarter but the Hornets couldn’t buy a single basket. Valanciunas had some more solid minutes and Denver started to build their lead up to double digits. The Hornets pushed back, Kon Knueppel was doing damage and they got back within six to force a Nuggets timeout. They settled down and also brought Jokic back out on the court. That sparked a run and Denver pushed the lead back to fourteen after a Jokic three. Knueppel kept the Hornets in striking distance but they were running out of time. The door was open with the Nuggets starting to go cold from the floor with four minutes to go. Charlotte got it under ten after some sloppy play from Denver but Jokic responded. Ultimately the Hornets just ran out of time. The Nuggets hang on to win 115-106
