Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Nuggets get serious in second half, taking out the Raptors late

The Champs came out blasting on offense, but we’re giving it up as easily because of inattentive defense and turnovers putting them on their heels. Then they got punked in the second quarter, getting outscored by 15 points. It was as if they were transported back to the Mesozoic era, and they were the prey of unfed velociraptors. They followed up the second half with a comeback from down 22 points behind Joker and Murray’s takeover.

Keep in mind the visitors were missing Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poetl, Gary Trent Jr., Chris Boucher and Scottie Barnes.

Early, the Raptors couldn’t contain Aaron Gordon at close range. And Michael Porter Jr was dropping arrows from deep, middle and short distance.

In the second quarter, the offense fell apart, registering nine of 27 baskets. On the other side, RJ Barrett swished a left-corner triple, seized the baseline for a dunk and drove through the middle for another. Gradey Dick made three jumpers. Jalen McDaniels added six points. And with three minutes to go in the half, the hosts were down 22.

At intermission, the Nuggets were behind on the scoreboard 51-68. They accumulated 28 paint points, eight on the break, four via second chances, nine after turnovers and nine from the bench. MPJ scored 13 points on six of 11 ventures. AG had a dozen on 83.3% shooting. And the Joker had 12 as well, with seven assists, 10 boards and two steals.

The visitors had 28 interior points, 15 in the open court, 11 on extra tries, eight after turnovers and 19 from the reserves. Barrett racked up 15 on his scorecard on six of nine attempts. Dick followed with 13 on his ledger. Former Nugget Bruce Brown had nine. And Kelly Olynyk and Jontay Porter- MPJ’s brother- logged eight.

But Nikola Jokić cleaved coverages with his jumper, finished on the break, ran two-man actions with Jamal Murray, and boogied up close for four more baskets. He supplied 19 points in the frame and, contributed four helpings to Murray, Porter and Watson, and picked up four steals.

Murray produced nine points on three of five looks, but while he defended, Kelly Olynyk hunted him in the half court for a bucket from two feet away and drew a foul on him at the left elbow to take a trip to the charity line. Moreover, Olynyk recorded two more freebies and four field goals, totaling 14 points in the frame.

J. Porter dispatched six more points, and the rest of the Raptors made five of 15 baskets in the third quarter.

Following a 42-point outburst in quarter three and conceding 30, the fourth began with the Nuggets down 93-98, and Murray carelessly turning it over in the corner because he couldn’t hold on to the catch with one hand. In spite of that, he led the Nuggets in the last sequence, breaking down his cover from the wing to the paint, ripping apart the Raptors’ pick-and-roll defense, and getting loose twice after receiving Joker’s handoff. He also distributed six assists to Watson, Gordon, Jokić, KCP, Porter and Zeke Nnaji, generating 15 points.

With under seven minutes to go, the Nuggets took their first lead since the latter stage of the first quarter, when Murray dribbled past McDaniels, hitting a floater in the lane. On the Nuggets’ next possession, Jokić tipped in KCP’s missed pull-up, boosting the advantage to three points. The hosts made six of 10 baskets the rest of the way to close.

On the Raptors’ last possession, with 26 seconds left and down six points, Barrett raced down the floor, misfiring a layup, when taking a 3-pointer was the operative move. Had he made it, the visitors would have played for the steal before the foul.

Porter recovered the miss and the Raptors were extinct.

The Nuggets won 125-119. They had 66 paint points, 21 on the break, 11 on second opportunities, 19 after turnovers and 23 from the bench. Jokić’s stat line included 35 points on 14 of 26 attempts, with 17 rebounds, 12 assists, six steals and two blocks. Murray scored 26 on 57.9% shooting, plus 12 dimes, five boards and two rejections. AG and MPJ had 19 apiece.

The Raptors had 66 interior points, 19 in the open court, 20 on extra tries, eight after turnovers and 31 from the reserves. Barrett submitted 26 points on 10 of 20 looks. Olynyk filed 24 to his scorecard and six rebounds. And Dick noted 17 points.

Jokić handled on the on-court interview. He said, “The whole crew fought today, and we showed character that we are not quitters.”

At the postgame presser, coach Michael Malone said, “Do I like the fact that we didn’t play at all in the first half? No. But I’m really proud of the guys having the courage to not let go…we stayed with it. There was never any panic, which is what I loved about it as well.”