Insane ending in regulation leads to Nuggets win in overtime

THE RUNDOWN

The Denver Nuggets got a 116-114 win in overtime against the Dallas Mavericks in dramatic comeback fashion. After going into the locker room at the half 57-50, the Nuggets couldn’t hold the momentum and found themselves down 93-85 after allowing a big Mavericks second half run.

However, the Nuggets fought back behind inspired play from Kenneth Faried, 25 points and 20 rebounds, Emmanuel Mudiay, 16 points and 8 assists, Will Barton, 20 points and 8 rebounds and D.J. Augustin‘s big fourth quarter and OT where he scored Denver’s final 8 points.

This game never should have gone to OT, but the a poor inbounds play from Chandler Parsons cost Dallas as they didn’t have any timeouts left as he tried to inbound the ball. Parsons had nowhere to go and attempted to toss the ball off Barton, but Denver came up with the ball and Mudiay found Faried for the game tying dunk. Here is that play, be sure to watch Malone on the play, too.

The Nuggets drew up an isolation for Augustin at the end of OT and he drew the foul on Ray Felton to give Denver the lead.

And here is Mudiay sealing the game with a block on Wes Matthews‘ 3-point attempt that could have ripped out the hearts of the Pepsi Center faithful today.

Check out Kenneth Faried on that play above, he stalks Mudiay and gives him the big bear hug. That’s team chemistry at its finest.

WHERE/WHEN

Pepsi Center — Denver, CO / March 6, 2016 / Game Number 63

STAR OF THE GAME

Let’s go with Faried. His efforts today were gigantic as he came up with 11 offensive rebounds and 9 defensive boards. He shot 11-18 from the field (25 points) and his awareness on the final Denver possession in regulation forced OT as he received the pass from Mudiay and threw it down with authority.

Huge game from The Manimal and he has been really been playing well this season.

“There was a point tonight where I considered getting (Nikola) Jokic back in the game because that would have been great experience for him,” said Malone. “But I couldn’t do that to Kenneth. He was playing so well, I would have been a disservice to Kenneth Faried. So, I let him ride it out and thank goodness I did.”

PLAYS OF THE GAME

Michael Malone dusted off Mike Miller for today’s game. Miller only appeared in five games from Feb. 1 until today’s game on March 6th, and in those five games he logged a total of just 27 minutes. Gotta give Miller a little love for the long-ball here.

Mudiay’s vision is just ridiculous, check out this pass to Kenneth Faried for the easy fastbreak slam. (Oh, and Mudiay is again showing why the Nuggets should push it in transition when they can. The kid is awesome on the go.)

With no Danilo Gallinari to bail the team out in late shot clock situations, Mudiay takes up the role and buries this deep 3-pointer to open the scoring in the third quarter.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME

The Nuggets couldn’t keep the momentum going from the second quarter into the third quarter. The Mavericks outscored Denver 29-20 in the third and a 14-8 run to start the fourth put Denver behind the eight-ball. That’s a 43-28 at a critical juncture of the game. It’s what we keep coming back to with this team: consistency.

But, Michael Malone’s Nuggets have a lot of fight and closed the fourth on a 21-13 run to force overtime and got the win in the extra time. Denver also held the Mavericks to just 2-8 shooting in OT.

BY THE NUMBERS

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“Just really proud of our guys because I felt we gave one away in Dallas a week ago, and tonight we were able to make enough plays to get the win,” said Malone. “I thought Kenneth Faried was phenomenal. Phenomenal — I can’t stress that enough. I’ve been playing him only around 24 minutes a night as I try to get other guys minutes. Played him extended minutes tonight, he goes out there and gets 25 and 20.”

LASTING IMPACT

Part of the mission this season was to reshape the culture in Denver. Check out this Tweet from Matt Moore at the end of the game.

The Nuggets are 24-38, and players/bench are absolutely losing their minds on every play. The culture’s fixed, just gotta get talent.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) March 7, 2016

The locker room was torn down this summer and rebuilt and the ghosts that were there during the Brian Shaw era are now gone. It’s a completely different team, lots of new faces and Malone is at the head of the change. Mike Miller has been huge. Kenneth Faried is locked in and buying in. This season has been a lot of fun and the team is the reason for it.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Nuggets host the New York Knicks and our old friend Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m. MT. And it’ll be Round 2 between Kristaps Porzingis and Nikola Jokic.