Tonight was a gut check for the Denver Nuggets and they passed with flying colors in a 117-113 victory over the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital. After losing their past two games, in rather embarrassing fashion, the Nuggets entered the fourth quarter with a 12 point lead and, seemingly, all the momentum. Washington would go on an 18-8 run to tie the game at 99 with just under six minutes left in the game. After that Denver never failed to have the lead as Emmanuel Mudiay, Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari led the way in the Nuggets “winning time” performance that gave Denver a hard-fought road victory.
The Nuggets had five players finish in double-digits, as the Nuggets continue to find success when the whole host of characters get involved. Gallo finished with 26 points, Mudiay dropped 20 points (his second highest total of his young career), Nikola Jokic was good for 15 points, Will Barton chipped in 15 as well and Darrell “Shady” Arthur contributed 13 points off the bench. Denver went 9-18 from three point range, including late clutch threes from Gallo and Gary Harris (shown below). It was a victory that required and received a total team effort.
Where/When
Verizon Center – Washington, District of Columbia | Jan. 28th, 2016
Stars of the Game
1.) Emmanuel Mudiay – The rookie continues to show improvement night in and night out at the point-guard position. It has obviously been frustrating at times for Mudiay this season. He has struggled with turnovers, bad shooting and to remain healthy. However it is beginning to seem like he never struggled with keeping a positive attitude through all of his early season struggles. Now his shots are falling, he’s taking better care of the basketball and confidence in late game situations is on the rise.
Per Matt Moore (@HPbasketball) of CBS Sports, “Mudiay is now 13-18 (72%) on FT’s in clutch time (last 5 minutes of 5 point games).” Emmanuel Mudiay is the Nuggets future and it’s exciting to watch him begin to realize his potential.
2.) Danilo Gallinari – Fresh off a snub from the 2016 NBA All Star, Gallo continued his record year with another great performance. It was the twenty-first time the Italian has scored 20 or more points this season. He’s finally recovered from that horrific ACL injury suffered in April of 2013 and will look to lead the Nuggets back to the playoffs heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
3.) Kenneth Faried – It was a quiet night on the offensive end of the floor for The Manimal as he finished with 7 points. Faried found other ways to contribute though as he pulled down 10 rebounds and was a team high +9. He also had the play of the game as he stuffed Bradley Beal‘s attempted dunk with just over a minute to play. I think it’s a block that finds itself on Sports Center tonight.
Final Shot
This is a Nuggets team that refuses to quit and seems to find ways to win games it has no business of winning, like tonight. With 35 games left in the regular season Denver is only three games out of eighth place in the Western Conference. No one gave this team much of a chance to be competitive, let alone decent. But, here they are fighting and scrapping as they figure out what it means to be a team.
Sustaining momentum has largely been absent this season for the Nuggets. That will need to change if they want to make a playoff push. However let’s not forget the injuries, growing pains and new coaching staff factoring into the low points this season. Let’s credit them for not giving up, previous teams would have. Heckuva gut check win tonight for the Nuggets.
What’s Next
Denver will travel to Indianapolis and face the Pacers on Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana enters the game at 24-22 and sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Let’s see if the Nuggets can improve 2-1 on their eastern road trip. Tipoff is at 5:00 p.m. MST.
