The Nuggets came into yet another game extremely shorthanded on Tuesday night, hosting the Pistons without their entire starting lineup except for Jamal Murray. Still, Denver went toe-to-toe with the best team in the Eastern Conference right down to the bitter end.
They had a great chance to tie the game, down three with under 5 seconds left, when Jamal Murray attempted a three, falling away to his left, and was fouled on his landing by Javonte Green. It was a questionable call, as Murray appeared to kick out his legs, but the Pistons were out of timeouts, so there was nothing they could do.
Jamal drilled the first free throw but missed the second one. He tried to miss the third intentionally to give the Nuggets a chance at an offensive rebound, but the ball rolled in anyway, cutting the lead to one with just over 3 seconds to play.
Tobias Harris knocked down two free throws on the other end, pushing the lead back to 3, but giving the Nuggets, with a timeout remaining, one last chance. They went right back to Murray, who threw up a running prayer from the corner, but he was bailed out by yet another foul.
For the second time in four seconds, Murray had three free throw attempts to tie the game and force overtime. But once again, Jamal was unable to come through in the clutch, missing the second free throw. With just 0.7 seconds remaining and no timeouts, he tried to miss the final shot intentionally, but the rebound was tipped in the air, and time expired.
Nuggets can't let clutch loss to Pistons linger
In the end, it was a 109-107 home loss to the best team in the Eastern Conference, the now 34-11 Pistons. There’s certainly no shame in losing that game, but it’s always disappointing to see one slip through the cracks as this one did.
It’s also unusual to see Murray fail to come through in the clutch. He has become one of the trustiest players in crunch time, and we’ve basically become programmed to seeing him bury shot after shot when the game is on the line. So for him to choke at the line with a chance to tie the game was one thing, but to see him do it twice in the waning seconds of the game was a bit of a shock to the system.
He has earned the benefit of the doubt and gets a pass this time for all of his past clutch heroics, many of them in much bigger games. Murray will be annoyed with himself, and this one will sting, but it’s important that the team doesn’t let things spiral. Move on and get ready to get back in the win column on Thursday night against the Nets.