Denver Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone must have the best halftime pep talks in the business.
Either that or the Nuggets have discovered some serious third-quarter juju over their last two road games and without it, they would most certainly be heading back to Denver with on a two-game losing stream.
After the Knicks took a commanding 65-43 lead into the half, Denver ran off a 27-2 run to open the third quarter and outscored New York 38-19 in the frame a mere 24 hours after they outscored the Brooklyn Nets 40-21 during the third in their Sunday night win. Over those 12 minutes, the Nuggets forced 12 Knick turnovers but it wasn’t enough. New York outlasted Denver in the fourth to win 116-110.
Denver wouldn’t have been in tonight’s game if it wasn’t for Gary Harris. The fourth-year shooting guard scored ten points in the third and registered three steals in the period acting as the key cog in the Nuggets’ defense that dialed up the intensity for that stretch. Harris finished with 18 points on the night.
Kristaps Porzingis dominated Denver’s frontline on his way to a season-high 38 points on 14-26 shooting to go with three blocks. On offense, he was too big for either Jokic or Paul Millsap and on defense, his length frustrated any Nuggets player who tried to attack the rim. The dagger was a Porzingis fadeaway jumper from about 15-feet over Jamal Murray who was guarding the Latvian on a switch.
Denver trailed by four with a minute left but Harris’ quick three on the Nuggets’ subsequent possession bounced off the rim. The Nuggets forced a Knicks turnover but Wilson Chandler fumbled the ball out of bounds ending Denver’s night.
After he burst onto the national scene with a 40-point performance at Madison Square Garden last year, Jokic followed up his career night with 28 points on 9-15 shooting. He knocked down six threes and finished with 11 rebounds. Murray was also big in Denver’s second-half comeback with 20 points over the games third and fourth quarters after going scoreless in the first half.
Elsewhere for Denver, Millsap struggled to just 2-13 shooting and fouled out in 34 minutes. Emmanuel Mudiay reached double-figures for the fifth time in seven regular-season games and finished with 15 points.
Kyle O’Quinn was big off the bench for New York and tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Denver comes back to the Mile High City with a 3-4 record and gets set for a six-game homestand.
Check out more postgame content below –
Nuggets Game Grades: Nuggets start slow, fail to execute late in loss to Knicks
