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    • Despite everything, the Nuggets come up short
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    Despite everything, the Nuggets come up short

    Vaseline Posted on

    First quarter

    The game started with each team trading buckets. The Nuggets would get some separation, then the Wolves would come back and get a little separation, and the Nuggets would close the gap. It stayed in that cycle for a while. Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. led in scoring for the first stint. Bruan had 7 points in the first 6 minutes, and MPJ had 6. After six minutes the score was 18-16 in favor of the Nuggets, and then substitutions started to trickle in.

    To say the Nuggets bench struggled in the first half would be an understatement. At the end of the first quarter the score was 29-33. The Timberwolves started off the back of Anthony Edwards, who pinned Jamal Murray, holding him to just 2 points and scoring 9 himself. The starters played well, but the bench would have to step in and support them.

    Second quarter

    The second quarter started with the Nuggets just collapsing. They didn’t play good defense and the bench lineup just didn’t work. They fell early at 29-43. At one point the deficit increased to 16. The bench was just terrible. In the first half they combined to score 1-14, with Julian Strawther the only bench player to score. Russell Westbrook? 0-5. Peyton Watson? 0-4. Dario Saric? 0-3. None of them could buy a bucket for their life. The defense didn’t look good, the offense looked worse, and the entire unit looked confused.

    It was a disaster class early from the Nuggets, and it took the starters coming back for their fortunes to change. The Nuggets’ starters managed to claw their way back from 16 down to get close again. This was mainly behind Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon. The two started making it rain from beyond the arc, including going on a 9-0 personal run against the Wolves. It also started AG’s trend tonight: he was cooking from three-point range. Christian Braun also had some nice contributions, including a double for AG that will be at its peak at the end of the season. The Nuggets went into halftime up 61-64.

    Third quarter

    The third quarter was one where the Nuggets stayed close, but in potentially the most frustrating way possible. They were always within striking distance, but didn’t have the strength to get them back in the lead. They always were right therebut the bank failed to deliver a single blow. The starters did what they could, but at some point they needed help from anyone – it didn’t come, at least not yet.

    They would get within two points, but then it would eventually become five, then they would make it a three-point game, and then it would become an eight-point game. The starters had to play quite a bit, but at the end of the third inning it still ended up as a multi-possession game. Aaron Gordon was a big reason they were in it. He made three three-pointers in the quarter.

    Fourth quarter

    The fourth quarter was the do or die moment. There was a sense of momentum. They went on a 22-3 run and led by 10 at one point. Aaron Gordon was cooking, Christian Braun had the dunk of the year and you could feel this one shifting towards the Nuggets. Jamal Murray suffered a concussion in the third quarter, forcing them to shut down Russell Westbrook, but he also played well. Dario Saric was benched for Hunter Tyson and he had some pretty good minutes. Thanks to Russ, the bench started to produce some, and by the time the starters came back in, it was closer than when they left.

    That’s rare for the Nuggets, and they had so many things going for them. Their defense wasn’t good, but AG had five threes, CB played very well, Russ played great in the second half. However, it wasn’t intentional. Jokic was too passive on the final possession. He passed a wide open floater, and that resulted in Christian Braun driving to try to put the Nuggets up by 1, as the Wolves got the lead back from Ant who easily blew past MPJ. Despite the close game, the Nuggets fell short. They played better than they have the rest of this season, so there are positives, but it still stings.

    Music recommendation

    For those of you who didn’t read the preview of this game, I’m going to recommend some songs that aren’t based on the game. Previews, summaries and sometimes in editorials I just throw in something that I think fits the atmosphere. It will be this one The new year by Death Cab for Cutie. It’s a song I’ve been listening to when I want change in my life, but it’s not happening yet. That feels like this season so far. You want the new season to bring more, you want to see a better team, but sometimes it doesn’t feel any different.

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