Denver Nuggets dominated by Ish Smith, Wizards

Denver Nuggets overcome early deficit, only to fall apart late

An early 9-2 lead for the Nuggets was quickly erased as the Wizards would twice get leads of 16 points in the second quarter thanks to Smith and Troy Brown, Jr., who hit his first seven shots of the game en route to 18 points at halftime.

Despite a clear emphasis by the Nuggets to get the ball into the paint late in the second quarter, and some timely steals that led to a 12-0 run, the Wizards still out-rebounded the Nuggets by nine and held a six-point advantage on points in the paint at the half.

It was a disappointing follow-up performance by Michael Porter Jr, who scored five points but ended the half at -16, the second-worst rating, with only Jerami Grant -18 coming in lower.

The emphasis on getting into the paint and defensive alertness allowed the Nuggets to take the lead early in the third quarter eventually. The teams traded baskets throughout most of the third before the wheels came off for Denver.

Head Coach Michael Malone could sense it, calling a timeout after two quick baskets gave the Wizards a 103-101 lead with just under nine minutes left in the game, but the timeout did nothing to slow down Ish Smith and the Wizards.

Over the next five minutes, Washington went on a 19-2 run, as Smith made shots all over the court, and found open teammates on the rare occasions that Denver’s defenders did try to get in his way.

Jamal Murray carried the team offensively down the stretch, but the inability to lock down Ish Smith proved to be way too much to overcome.

Despite the disappointment of one of the worst losses of the Denver Nuggets season, there were some bright spots in the box score, led by Jamal Murray’s offensive display.