Every Nuggets comeback needs a stroke of inspiration, and this one fittingly occurred without Nikola Jokic on the floor. With 9:18 remaining in a game Denver trailed 100-90, Julian Strawther was barreled over away from the ball while Jamal Murray buried a corner 3-pointer.
A flagrant foul. A free throw for Strawther. A lob from Russell Westbrook to DeAndre Jordan. A six-point possession.
And eventually, an improbable and unnecessarily strenuous 132-129 overtime win over the Pelicans on Sunday night.
The Nuggets (15-11) have won five games this season after trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter. They were down 17 in this one, late in the third frame. But Jokic finally came alive late, and Murray punctuated his 27-point, eight-rebound game with another clutch shot, on one leg with eight seconds remaining to force overtime.
Closing lineup change
Michael Malone learned from last time. On Thursday in Portland, the Trail Blazers took a timeout to set up their last shot after Jokic tied it with 15 seconds to go. Denver’s lineup for the defensive possession: Murray, Westbrook, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jokic. The result: Anfernee Simons blew by Westbrook and a notable lack of help defense for a layup at the buzzer.
With eight seconds to go in New Orleans, Murray’s 20-footer deadlocked the Nuggets and Pelicans at 119. Timeout, New Orleans.
Denver’s lineup for the defensive possession: Westbrook, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Gordon and Jokic.
Porter had already been excised from the closing lineup after a poor performance at both ends. But Malone made room for both Watson and Braun by trading out Murray as well — in no way an indictment on the star guard’s play, but rather a sensible deployment of two impressive young perimeter defenders. Braun and Watson joined forces, with vital help from Westbrook, to get C.J. McCollum into a tough shot at the buzzer.
Malone stuck with Westbrook and Braun in overtime, while Porter remained on the bench. Braun played just shy of 39 minutes (the second-most on the team). Murray also contributed three steals, including a crucial one in the last minute of overtime.
Jokic largely to blame this time
There’s a valid school of thought that to depend on Jokic too much is dangerous for the long-term prosperity of the Nuggets. That too many minutes, too many touches and too many stats in December are cause for wariness, not celebration.
Even if that interpretation is accurate, there’s a baseline standard of aggressiveness for any team’s best player that Jokic didn’t come close to meeting on Sunday.
Especially against the centers New Orleans was throwing at him.
Until it was almost too late.
Jokic finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, after not imposing himself on Yves Missi and Daniel Theis in a way that should’ve seemed obvious for most of the night. He missed a couple of chances at the rim in a scoreless first quarter. Then in the second and third combined, only two of his seven field goal attempts were inside of 10 feet. The other five were all jumpers from 13 or more feet out. He only attempted five free throws.
At the defensive end — where Jokic is intuitive and often impactful, despite the general perception of him — he was a major part of the problem as the Pelicans won the paint 14-6 in the third quarter. They stretched their lead to 91-74 at the 1:32 mark, blowing by perimeter players and never feeling Jokic’s presence at the level of screens or near the rim.
As appropriate as it was that Denver found its spark without him, Jokic still turned out to be essential to the completion of the comeback. Once he committed to posting up, it was a one-sided game. He put up seven points in a two-minute stretch as Denver took the lead, then he added six easy points to get the Pelicans on their heels at the beginning of overtime.
Getting back on defense
The Nuggets had no excuse for appearing fatigued in New Orleans after their recent schedule, which included only three games in the last 13 days. But running the floor after live-ball changes of possession continued to be a bewildering topic.
They entered the game averaging 18.2 fast-break points allowed, the fourth-worst number in the NBA. They allowed 15 to the Pelicans by halftime. It wasn’t all turnovers this time, though Denver did commit 22 throughout the night. Players got caught in-between on 50-50 balls. Porter had an opportunity to rebound his own missed 3-pointer at one point in the second quarter, but as the long rebound bounced toward him, he turned and half-heartedly made his way toward the defensive end instead. An opponent seized the ball and sprinted past him for a layup.
The Pelicans finished the night with 23 transition points and a 56% clip from 2-point range. The Nuggets might have escaped with another win, but their flaws aren’t going away.
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