Five Observations: Raptors dominate Nuggets inside

The Denver Nuggets suffered another second-half collapse and fell to the Toronto Raptors 114-110 on Tuesday. After getting outscored 35-14 in Philadelphia in the third quarter on Monday, Denver at least waited until the fourth quarter to give away the game. The Raptors outscored the Nuggets 32-25 over the final 12 minutes.

Here are five observations from the game.

1. Toronto wins the battle inside

Paul Millsap got posterized for the second game in a row. A night after Joel Embiid threw down on him, Jakob Poeltl did the same. The sequence, which came when Toronto was rolling in the fourth quarter, was emblematic of how Tuesday’s game went for both sides inside.

The Raptors completely dominated the battle in the paint. They scored 60 points in the paint to the Nuggets’ 36. Toronto also blocked a season-high 16 shots. Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry each swatted four shots.

The Nuggets shot just 38.9 percent on field-goal attempts at the rim, according to Cleaning the Glass. Toronto’s bigs bothered them all game.

2. Jamal Murray’s finishing struggles continue

Jamal Murray could hear the footsteps Monday in Philadelphia. The second-year guard had a difficult time finishing with Joel Embiid on the prowl. It was understandable considering what a terrifying defensive presence Embiid is. A day later, Murray’s struggles to finish around the rim continued even though he didn’t have to deal with Embiid.

Murray shot just 1-6 at the rim, according to NBA.com.

“I can’t make a layup to save my life,” he said on Altitude TV’s post-game broadcast.

Overall, Murray went 6-18  from the field. He’s struggled to score the basketball efficiently on the road trip. In the last six games, he’s shooting 34.6 percent.

3. Toronto’s bench takes over late

We warned you in our game day post: Toronto’s bench unit is scary. Raptors reserves Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl were all on the floor as Toronto went on a 25-9 run in the fourth quarter. Toronto is probably the deepest team in the NBA, and it showed late.

The Nuggets’ bench had a decent game, but the Raptors’ bench mob still outscored them 53-29. VanVleet (15 points), Poeltl (12 points) and Siakam (12 points) all reached double figures.

4. Nikola Jokic was excellent

Nikola Jokic had an off shooting night in Philadelphia, but he shook it off in Toronto. The Serbian big man was feeling it. He shot 11-21 from the field, including 3-7 on three-pointers, but it was not enough as Denver coughed up another late lead.

Jokic finished with 29 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. Nuggets coach Michael Malone rode his best player hard, and understandably so. Denver outscored Toronto by four points in Jokic’s 40 minutes on the floor. In the eight minutes he sat, Toronto outscored Denver by eight points.

He shouldered so much of the load. Denver still took an L.

5. Trey Lyles pops off

It’s been difficult for Trey Lyles to earn minutes now that Paul Millsap is soaking up so many minutes at power forward. He’s received two DNP-CDs on this road trip alone, which has made it difficult for him to establish any rhythm. He was able to do so on Tuesday, though.

Lyles scored 13 points in 14 minutes. He canned three threes, the third of which pushed Denver’s lead to eight with 11:05 remaining.

It looked like the Nuggets might win at that point in the game. Then Toronto came storming back.