The Denver Nuggets gave Charlotte Hornets a quick basket, and LaMelo Ball saved them after a Denver upset. The two sides exchanged errors and empty assets, including a big blow against Michael Porter Jr. and a Jamal Murray air ball. After almost two full minutes with no points, Porter finally got the score with a dunk that was immediately answered by Cody Zeller receiving one of his own.
Nikola Jokic found Jamal Murray under the basket for a beautiful tray to tie the game at four. After Porter’s failure, Ball went straight to the cup for an easy tray. A turn by Will Barton turned into two points for Gordon Hayward and a time-out for Michael Malone. Going out of time, Jokic scored with an easy tray before Terry Rozier landed a 3-point transition shot. Barton missed a 3-point open shot and Rozier had another shot to fall from 3 meters away.
Denver turned the ball over again, which gave them three turns in less than five minutes of play. Rozier hit a couple of free throws on the line and Barton got the two points back on the rim. After Ball’s mistake, Jokic found Millsap for an easy bucket to start his score, which brought Denver back within five. After Charlotte’s turn, Murray found Jokic for a big dunk in the painting, but Rozier hit another triple on the wing.
Millsap made his way to the basket for two more over PJ Washington, but Denver gave Hayward an open look at the center of the city that was quickly answered by Barton. The two sides exchanged transition errors before Porter scored a blocking foul on Cody Zeller, who sent him to the line where he made both gifts. Jokic landed a shot over Hayward who tied the game at 21 with 3:10 remaining.
PJ Dozier was called in for a lack of blocking and both sides exchanged empty possessions before Barton was rescued by a goalkeeper call over Bismack Biyombo, who gave Denver the first advantage in the game. Murray found a couple of steals, but they ended up resulting in no point. Miles Bridges placed a tray to tie the game at 23 with 1:17 remaining, before Facundo Campazzo broke the tie with a corner triple. Bridges kept another one buried before a Campazzo lost the triple. With the kick timer slowing, Devonte Graham was blocked by Zeke Nnaji, and the Nuggets were going into the second half winning by 26-25.
Leaving the range, Campazzo turned the ball over with a bad pass, but the Hornets failed to capitalize. JaMychal Green had a chance to fall into the painting. After Charlotte’s failure, JaMychal had another chance to fall. Graham finally scored again with a 3-point corner kick. The two sides exchanged empty possessions before Dozier netted an open 3-point ball from the wing.
Charlotte turned the ball over and Murray made them pay with a triple kick before Ball went straight to the edge for a dunk. Dozier hit another triple to give Denver an advantage of nine with 8:32 remaining. Campazzo managed to steal a ball, but the Nuggets were unable to turn it into points before Ball hit a 3-point corner shot. Murray and Ball traded lost triples before Rozier hit one that led to Denver’s time limit at 6:58 am.
A wrong turn and shot came out of the time limit before Porter hit a jumper from the top of the key. Porter found space under the ledge when he made Zeller fall, which gave him an easy bucket. He missed Ball on the other side, who hit both free throws. Campazzo was knocked over while driving to the basket, but was found on the ground. Millsap stole Hayward and Campazzo scored another foul. Outside, Jokic hit Barton for a 45-38 climb tray that forced the Hornets to time out. The exchange failed before Porter had a second offensive rebound to turn into points, but Ball easily made it to the rim and converted a tray through a Jokic foul before failing the 3-point play.
Barton missed an open triple before Rozier had a 2 point chance to fall. With a five-point advantage, Barton reached the ring through a foul and a blow to the knee to convert the shot and send himself to the line where he converted the 3-point play. At the other end, Graham hit a triple to clear the play. Barton failed to match him, but Charlotte paid the bail with a twist. Jokic found Porter for an easy task. After Charlotte’s failure, Barton and a good ball move found Murray for a 3-point open shot that gave them a 10-point lead.
Jokic managed a reversal layup to fall with less than 15 seconds remaining before Porter forced a Hornets turn with: 2 remaining. Denver led 57-45 at the break, thanks to a series of 7-0 in the final two minutes of the period. They were not playing perfectly, but they were doing well enough to survive.
Going out of range, Barton dropped a medium-range jumper to make the score roll. After a couple of Hornets’ mistakes, Jokic hit Millsap under the basket for an easy tray. At the other end, Millsap attracted Zeller to get involved at both ends of the court. Jokic was in the corner for the 3 point open shot, but he went to the tray like a dancing bear for a nice tray to give him 10 in the night.
The two sides negotiated turnover before negotiating Porter and Rozier’s two-point brands. Murray transitioned to a powerful dunk to increase the lead to 20. A robbery from Murray turned into a second chance dunk for Porter. On the rebound, Jokic hit his tenth rebound, which gave him the record for the double doubles franchise and placed him ahead of Dikembe Mutumbo. Washington hit a 3-point shot after a Charlotte timeout, before Barton missed a triple in the corner. Rozier made a tray in the transition, and the Nuggets were getting sloppy with a turn that gave them another possession.
3-point pitches missed by both sides took a few empty minutes before Porter dropped a 3-point heat check pitch to push the lead to 20 before Zeller had an easy dunk to fall. Denver got a recipe from Charlotte and Murray had a chance to fall from downtown. Lost by 23, Zeller got another layup to fall before Murray hit another 3-point shot, but they gave up on a 3-point shot almost immediately, which led Denver to win 80-59 with 5:02 remaining. The two sides exchanged buckets out of range, including another Denver triple.
Hayward hit a tray, but Murray hit another 3-point shot before Dozier knocked Rozier into a triple. Terry took all three shots off the line, and Jokic converted a great dunk after a near-lap. Jokic hit Dozier on the inside pass for an easy pass after a Biyombo foul. Charlotte finally answered at around 27, and Jokić was looking for a triple-double at the end of the third quarter. Green was knocked under the basket, but failed to shoot to protect the Hornets’ high guard.
The losses on both sides ended when Jokic found Green for a dunk to give him a triple-double with 13 minutes remaining. Barton missed a 3-point shot and suffered a foul going to the edge before converting the 3-point play on the line. Turnover and empty goods abounded in the last minute of the third quarter, which saw Denver reach the final period taking 95-67.
Charlotte made 1 of 2 on the line after the break, and both sides were quickly exchanging buckets when Dozier cashed a triple and forced a Hornets timeout. Charlotte got three points in the time limit before Dozier turned the ball over with a carry. The two sides exchanged empty goods before Barton got his second triple of the night to fall. At the other end, Campazzo stole and found Porter in the transition to a huge dunk.
With 32 points, Ball had a chance to fall after a foul from Campazzo and turned it into a 3-point play on the line. A bad turn by Denver led to a dunk by Malik Monk and a quick timeout by Malone. Leaving the timeout, Porter suffered a foul which resulted in a pair of free throws. Jalen McDaniels missed an open 3-point attempt before Porter converted a 3-point shot and deflected before the shot was fired, which extended the advantage to 30.
Porter turned in the attack, which gave Charlotte an easy chance, and Malone was clearing the bench 7:08 from the rest to place Campazzo, Dozier, Barton, Nnaji and Vlatko Čančar. Barton was kicked out of the timeout in a 3-point attempt, and he knocked out all three giveaways. Dozier took down an upturned jumper to put the lead back to 30, with just under 6:00 remaining, before Vlatko was called in for a defensive foul.
Caleb Martin was called off by a foul on Facu, and he hit 1 of 2 on the line. The parade for the charity band was starting with Monk reaching the line with 5:20 left, and Bol Bol had joined the game along with Markus Howard. Bol quickly took a three-point shot in a high arc to increase the advantage to 30 again. Monk hit two more free throws before Bol hit a 3-point shot. Nnaji had a chance to fall out of the arch before McDaniels and Vlatko exchanged the baskets.
Charlotte was 1 of 2 on the line before Monk hit a deep triple over Bol’s outstretched arm. Howard kicked a 3-point-deep ball that didn’t come out before Martin was knocked over and sent to the line for two more free throws. McDaniels hit a triple that took the Hornets to 22 with 2:00 remaining. Isaiah Hartenstein fouled on a lost ball that gave the Hornets another trip to the charity strip for the quarter’s 20 free throws, after the two teams combined 18 in the first three quarters. Martin was fouled in the attempt to rebound for two more free throws.
Howard won a triple before Vlatko hit Nnaji for an easy alley-oop tray. Bol had a dunk to go that made the whole bank celebrate before he sent a blocked kick away. Homesickness and empty goods abounded. Although the Nuggets only won by 25, this game was not as disputed. Five players scored two digits, and four of those five were in the starting lineup. When Denver wins by almost 30 with Jokic trying to make just seven shots, it’s a good night.
Statistics leaders
Spots: Michael Porter Jr. – 28
Assists: Nikola Jokic – 10
Rebounds: Jokic – 10
Game player: Michael Porter Jr. 28 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, field goal 11 out of 17, 3 out of 6 3 points, 3 out of 4 free throws