The Denver Nuggets had a tired and struggling Washington Wizards team tonight but once again found themselves battling all the way to the end. Jamal Murray was the key catalyst for Denver and he took over the game late when the Nuggets needed him the most. Tim Hardaway Jr. also had a big fourth and scored 30 off the bench. The Nuggets outscored the Wizards by nine in the final quarter to avoid a letdown and they get the 121-115 victory.
Denver opened the game hitting threes, first Jalen Pickett then Murray. The Wizards meanwhile could barely muster any offense at all and the Nuggets got an early lead. Peyton Watson carried Denver after that but Washington started to find their shot and kept pace. Murray got going again and started building Denver’s lead while the Wizards went cold again. It was a 9-0 run before Washington started to get a couple shots near the basket. That stopped Denver’s run but the Nuggets were able to keep in front by just under ten heading down the stretch of the quarter behind Hardaway. He hit a big three right before the buzzer to put Denver up 36-29 after one.
The bench unit struggled to score early in the second quarter. Hardaway hit some shots but the Wizards started chipping away at the Nuggets lead. They got within a point before Murray and Aaron Gordon were reinserted into the game and restored order. Murray had a pretty move to get a layup that got the Nuggets lead back up to eight at 49-41. Denver got sloppy after that and also had no one other than Murray scoring points. After a particularly egregious turnover, the Wizards got an easy dunk and took a 55-53 lead. Alex Sarr in particular was giving the Nuggets trouble in the paint. Washington’s offense stalled out and the Nuggets went back in front but neither team could build an advantage in the final minutes with Sarr and Murray dueling. Jamal hit a step back in Alex’s face right before the end of the half but it was Washington going to the locker room with a 63-62 lead.
Both teams looked sluggish to open the second half. The Nuggets briefly got the lead but it didn’t last with their inconsistency. Denver was shooting a lot of threes but they weren’t getting any to fall. They also continued to let the Wizards get easy baskets and dominate the offensive glass so Washington stayed in front. With the quarter half way over Denver was still trailing by a basket or two but got Sarr into foul trouble. Bub Carrington hit some shots for the Wizards and started to grow their lead. Denver stopped the bleeding right before the advantage hit double digits and they trailed by six with a minute left to go in the third. Hardaway hit a three, the Nuggets defense played tough and Denver went to the fourth trailing 86-83.
The Nuggets bench kept pace with the Wizards to open the fourth but continued to give up offensive rebounds and rely on jumpers. Washington’s lead started to creep up which brought Gordon back into the game and then Hardaway hit back-to-back threes to pull Denver back within one. They went cold after that though and started committing fouls. After a Sarr free throw the Wizards were up 102-97 with six minutes left in the game. Hardaway was making plays on both ends of the court. He tied the game with an and-1 and then got a turnover by drawing a charge. The Nuggets got up again but again let it slip away with sloppy play. Hardaway had a big drive to the basket that he finished with a left-handed dunk but then Watson immediately fouled a three-point shooter on the next possession. Murray started cooking with the game on the line and started to build Denver’s lead. After he drew a foul, he pushed the Nuggets lead to seven. Gordon put the exclamation point on it with a reverse alley-oop dunk and the Nuggets rallied late to earn the victory. They close it out with a 121-115 win.
