The Nuggets haven't exactly done much recently to give fans the kind of hope they need that a championship is still within reach. But they showed heart, fight, and passion, and completed the first step in earning back fans' trust. And their thrilling 121-115 clutch win over the Toronto Raptors may be just what fans need to restore the faith in the Nuggets.
The Nuggets came out flat, and they looked sluggish for three-quarters, falling behind by as many as 11 in the third. But a fourth-quarter defensive clinic by Nuggets' standards, and superb play from Tim Hardaway Jr., who was doing his best to make a case for the NBA's 6th Man of the Year award, put the Nuggets over the top, and secured a clutch win.
The Nuggets need to start showing consistency
On a recent "All-NBA Podcast," Jason Timpf told Adam Mares, "I still have faith in Denver." Mares, a Nuggets fan, had jumped ship on the championship dream the day before. But Mares said about the Nuggets, "There’s plenty of reason to think they're a better team than what they have shown, but at some point, they have to show it."
Step one of showing that to fans is complete. The Nuggets showed tremendous heart in storming back in the fourth quarter against the Raptors. They outscored the Toronto 36-21 in the frame and secured the clutch win on the back of 12 fourth-quarter points from Jamal Murray.
Murray was 5-5 from the free-throw line in the fourth, and he finished the game with 31 points, his 20th time scoring 30 or more this season. Nikola Jokic finished with 22 points, and the Nuggets had six players in double figures.
The Nuggets had a team effort in clutch win
Hardway's 23 points led the bench, and Bruce Brown had 12. Aaron Gordon had 16 points on 60% shooting in his return to action after missing the Nuggets' prior game to rest his hamstring.
The Nuggets had a lot of hustle in the fourth, too. Gordon had a spectacular defensive stop late, and Jokic grabbed a critical rebound on a Gordon missed free throw with an amazing move that led to more points.
Now the Nuggets just need to string this together with a couple more wins. They've been up and down for weeks. They're not lacking in confidence, and Murray said after the game that if the Nuggets just play as they did in the fourth quarter, they "have a chance to beat everybody that's in front of us."
That's the kind of confidence Nuggets fans need to hear. Now, for them all to keep the faith they've started to have, the Nuggets need to be consistent. That's easier said than done this year.