Second best team in the NBA at home this season, Denver almost delivered an embarrassing defeat to the 19,652 spectators at the Ball Arena on Monday evening against Toronto (125-119). The Raptors were however deprived of Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl, four essential cogs for Darko Rajakovic. But at the end of the first quarter, the Serbian coach saw his men take control.
Rookie winger Gradey Dick grabbed a missed pass from Reggie Jackson to Nikola Jokic before immediately punishing the Nuggets from the three-point line (27-28, 9th). Bruce Brown – crowned with Denver in the 2023 final – then RJ Barrett imitated him in the same register to widen the gap (32-45, 15th). Punished behind the arc, Denver did not defend any better near its circle, like this baseline cut from RJ Barrett (26 points) behind the back of a completely lost Jamal Murray (36-51, 16th).
Silent until the end of the second quarter, the Canadian leader let Nikola Jokic, en route to a huge triple double (35 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists as well as 6 steals), get caught so that the gap did not increase too fast. The reigning champions ended up stepping on the accelerator in the third quarter, after a basket plus the foul from Olynyk (24 points) on Jokic (64-85, 27th).
Denver in contact with OKC in the West
Candidate for a third MVP title in four years, the Serbian pivot showed the way near his circle by multiplying interceptions and deflected passes. In a few minutes, the “Joker” distilled two caviars to Murray and scored twice near the Raptors’ circle, against a helpless Jontay Porter (86-93, 33rd). Recalled to the bench, Jokic saw his Canadian lieutenant catch fire (26 points, 12 assists) to put Denver in the lead (108-107, 43rd) then widen the gap by again challenging Olynyk near the circle (118-113, 45th ).
But Michael Malone’s players waited until the last minute to take cover. Taken two at the low post, Jokic brought out the ball on Murray for a laser pass towards the left corner where Michael Porter Jr – older brother of Jontay on the Toronto side – was alone at three points (124-119, 47th). “We finally managed to find our defense,” summarized Malone. But we can’t exchange baskets with the opponent when we are down by 20 points. We have to improve. »
Denver returns to the level of Oklahoma City at the top of the Western Conference before traveling to Miami on Wednesday evening in a “remake” of the poster for the 2023 final. Toronto is 12th in the East and sees the play-in ( 6th-10th places) always move a little further away.
