In their highest scoring game of the season so far, the Nuggets were able to thoroughly do some damage as the Toronto Raptors visited the Mile High City. After going 2-2 on their road trip, the Nuggets were able to keep a steady lead over the Raptors (and exploded in the third) to get their 129-111 win at home.
In tonight’s game, Denver evened out their record to 4-4 as they arguably had their best game of the season so far.
Nuggets v Raptors
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Jamal Murray was the leading Nugget with 24 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in just 21 minutes. Paul Millsap had his best game so far with Denver, contributing 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists. This was nice to see after Millsap struggled in his first seven games with the team. Emmanuel Mudiay threw in 16 points with his 3 boards and 5 assists. Nikola Jokic narrowly missed his first triple-double of the season with 8 points,16 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Nuggets had a huge third quarter as Jamal Murray scored 16 of his 24 points in the third, helping to turn a 9 point lead into an astounding 36 point lead. The Nuggets overall had a 43 point quarter, which was their highest of the season so far.
Toronto was led by Normal Powell who had 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 29 minutes. Powell had a +/- of -26. Like Denver, only five Raptors ended the game in double figures, none of them over 14 points.
Quick Stats
A nice statistic for the Nuggets is that all of the starters had a +/- of at least +20, who was Nikola Jokic. The highest +/- for the team went to Jamal Murray with a +35. Wilson Chandler, who had a quiet game with 9 points, 1 rebound, and 5 assists had a +/- of +31. Mason Plumlee had a +/- of +16 with his 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists in his 17 minutes played. Denver had 5 players in double figures by the end of the game.
Denver shot well tonight as they were 53.4% from the field, 50% from beyond the arc, and 65.5% from the free throw line.
Denver’s starters outscored Toronto’s 76-52 and were key in the win. The Nuggets will need to continue to do well as they play back-to-back this weekend against Miami on Friday night and the Warriors on Saturday.
As it currently stands, Denver is last in the Northwestern Division. Minnesota and Utah are leading the division with records of 5-3. The Nuggets (and Trail Blazers) are just one game behind the division leaders.