For three quarters, it looked like the shorthanded Nuggets were going to get their second straight win without Nikola Jokic in Cleveland on Friday night. However, as the fourth quarter began, the Cavs intensified their defense, and the Denver role players tightened up, missing shots they had been making all night.
After scoring 97 points through three quarters, the Nuggets went ice cold, scoring just 8 points until a meaningless Jamal Murray three in the final seconds. The Cavaliers were on a 23-8 run to that point, and a 10-0 run over the final few minutes, to seal a 113-108 victory in a game that Denver had led by double-digits.
Murray had 28 points in the first half, but the Cavaliers cut his water off after the break and refused to let him beat them down the stretch. Peyton Watson had a great offensive game overall, but the shots weren’t falling in the fourth quarter.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Spencer Jones hit plenty of shots earlier in the night, but when they were needed, it felt like they weren’t ready for the moment. Bruce Brown scored 0 points in 24 minutes, and DaRon Holmes had just 3 in 23.
Nuggets blew chance to steal winnable game
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a huge catastrophe to see this version of the Nuggets falter in crunch time. Other than Murray, these are guys who would almost certainly not be on the court for these moments, and definitely wouldn’t be relied upon to produce offense.
Missing good looks is unfortunate, but it’s something you can live with. These guys went out and fought hard, giving a very valiant effort without four starters and a key reserve in a tough road atmosphere against a team fighting for their place in the standings.
The Cavs are healthy and playing a lot better recently. The Nuggets gave them a hell of a fight and made Cleveland go out and earn the win. It would have been nice if someone on the Nuggets had stepped up and hit a few big shots. This would have been a big win to secure. But at the end of the day, it’s just great that so many guys are getting this opportunity and mostly performing well.
Every win without Jokic is big, and thus, in the moment, this feels like a big wasted opportunity. But we have to temper expectations and accept our current reality. Battling the Cavaliers on the road to the bitter end is a very solid outcome for this team right now.