Paul Millsap gets a win in his Atlanta homecoming

Through three quarters of Denver’s 105-100 win over Atlanta, Paul Millsap‘s fairytale homecoming was in jeopardy. The Nuggets led by just four points at 75-71 after the third and still found themselves mired in a two-game shooting slump on the heels of a forgettable night in Charlotte on Wednesday where they shot just 38 percent as a team.

But Denver was able to kick things into gear with Millsap, who played his last four seasons for the Hawks, on the bench to start the fourth when they rattled off an extended 10-4 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to score a crucial road win that the Nuggets just needed to have. Millsap came in a few minutes later and scored seven of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to get his first win in his first matchup against his old team. Denver’s win over the Hawks ended a six-year Nuggets’ losing streak in Atlanta.

The Hawks closed to within three points with 1:30 left in the fourth after a Will Barton turnover and trailed by four with 20 seconds remaining. But Denver hit their free-throws down the stretch.

Nikola Jokic tallied a double-double in the first half and finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Denver scored 60 points in the paint as well against at Atlanta compared to the Hawks’ 30 and used their size to their advantage for most of the night.

Emmanuel Mudiay put together one of his stronger games in recent memory and finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers. Gary Harris had himself another strong game and scored 18 points on 7-1 shooting.

A good defensive third quarter from Denver where they allowed Atlanta to score just 19 points on only 35 percent shooting set the table for the Nuggets to take control in the fourth.

Check out more postgame content below –

Nuggets Game Grades: Emmanuel Mudiay plays his best game of the year