Showing some grit and fighting through adversity, the Nuggets gave fans a reason to be proud as they not only snapped a five-game losing streak at home, but also put on the most exciting show of the year. The team battling back from an 18-point deficit in the second half behind Jameer Nelson‘s barrage of triples and Danilo Gallinari‘s late game heroics to win it 111-108 in overtime.
THE RUNDOWN
First Quarter – Starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Joffrey Lauvergne
Harris was an extremely welcomed sight, not missing a beat as he drilled a three in his first minute of gameplay after missing six games with a concussion.
Mudiay came out of the game briefly with an apparent ankle injury as he was being worked on by trainer Steve Hess on the sidelines. He was even headed into the locker room when he suddenly turned around and decided to go back on the court. Not sure if it was the best decision, but I like the rookie being hungry for minutes.
Nikola Jokic came in and was seemingly featured in the offense as the Nuggets were making a conscious effort to get him the ball on the elbow and low post. Jokic rewarded the decision as he showed some post moves and made timely passes:
Will Barton came in struggling with his shot, missing his first four attempts before hitting a tough layup to try and give the Nuggets some momentum before going into the second quarter:
Unfortunately the Nuggets immediately gave the basket back by getting beat in transition off a made bucket.
End of first: Timberwolves up 29-23.
Second Quarter – Starters: Nelson, Harris, Barton, Mike Miller, Jokic
Jokic has a very unique and varied skillset but I’ve recently noticed a skill that he’s elite at — drawing fouls. The rookie already has a knack for accentuating contact and put it to work as he shot 6-6 from the line in just the second quarter.
The Nuggets looked dead in the water, an extremely scary sight for fans who have seen this story one too many times this season. The Timberwolves amassed a 15-point lead and things once again looked grim for the Nuggets.
End of second: Timberwolves up 56-41.
Third Quarter – Starters: Nelson, Harris, Gallinari, Faried, Lauvergne
After attempting to play on a sprained ankle, Mudiay and the training staff decided it would be better to sit out the second half of the game. Totally fine with this move.
The Nuggets seemed to tread water coming out of the half until Nelson and Gallinari hit back to back to back threes. Then the momentum snowballed into something special: instead of folding and tucking their tails between their legs the Nuggets fought back behind a blizzard of cold-blooded threes, cutting the deficit from 18 down to just five before the fourth quarter. The team couldn’t buy a bucket in the first half, and now couldn’t miss as Nelson, Gallinari and Jokic were draining triples and Faried topped things off with a huge and-1:
End of third: Timberwolves up 78-73
Fourth Quarter – Starters: Foye, Harris, Barton, Miller, Jokic
The Nuggets locked down on defense and continued their offensive onslaught as Harris hit a three and Jokic hit a tough hook shot:
Jameer came back in and continued where he left off, hitting huge triples and making plays. The Nuggets were feeding off of the energy in the building as they showed heart and had a spring in their step. Even the normally stoic Jokic was showing some fire as he grabbed an offensive board and threw down the rare dunk:
After missing an easy layup, Harris redeemed himself by hitting a tough runner across the lane. For the first time since 7:06 left in the first quarter the Nuggets finally grabbed the lead, 95-94.
End of regulation: Both teams tied at 100.
OVERTIME – Starters: Nelson, Harris, Barton, Gallinari, Faried
Faried won the jump against Karl-Anthony Towns and gave the Nuggets the first possession of OT. It was a sloppy one resulting in a bad desperation shot. Luckily the Nuggets locked down on defense on the other end. Barton scored the first basket of overtime with a gorgeous spin move in traffic:
Wiggins continued to do damage at the free throw line and Gallinari responded on the other end with a big pull up jumper. Towns got the ball in the low post against Faried, looking like trouble until the Manimal came up with a huge defensive play:
The Timberwolves stayed right with the Nuggets before Gallinari hit an absolutely huge three to give them a little breathing room:
On the last offensive possession for the Nuggets, Malone subs in Jokic for Faried. I love this move as it spreads the floor infinitely better. Gallinari got the ball in a match-up against the not-so-respected defender Kevin Martin and hit a huge shot to give the Nuggets a three point lead:
On the Timberwolves last play, Towns jacked up a contested three well beyond the arc. Clank.
Nuggets win 111-108
WHERE/WHEN
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO | Dec. 11th | Regular Season Game 23 (9-14)
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
The third quarter is when the game turned from blowout to thrilled as Jameer showed us the power of having a point guard who can shoot:
Gallinari also contributed with some triples of his own:
PLAYS OF THE GAME
Faried with a huge and-1 to continue momentum:
Barton with a nice transition move through three defenders:
Jameer with the nice spin move to a Jokic three:
BY THE NUMBERS
ESPN.com
Faried chipped in with his usual double-double dropping 14 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 50 percent shooting. Solid game from the Manimal.
Gallinari had a much needed solid outing as he scored a game-high 23 points on 6-14 shooting (3-5 from beyond the arc). Not included in the box score are the numerous clutch shots he hit to give the Nuggets momentum for not only this game but hopefully the season.
In a game where Barton seemed to struggle, missing easy shot after easy shot, he still went 6-14 from the field. Solid but not great game for the Nuggets’ sixth man of the year candidate.
Jameer was the true star of the night as he filled in for Mudiay admirably and led the comeback for the Nuggets shooting 7-12 from the field, 4-7 from beyond the arc for 20 points to go along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Great, great night for him.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Nuggets will look to build off a morale-boosting win as they host Ty Lawson and the Houston Rockets on Monday Dec. 14th. Tip off is at 7:00 p.m. MT.
