The Denver Nuggets came into tonight’s game shorthanded against the Toronto Raptors and were even thinner almost immediately after the start. Aaron Gordon left in the first quarter and didn’t return, while Jamal Murray never suited up early on. That left Denver relying on many of their younger players and finding themselves in a dogfight with the Raptors. The Nuggets fell behind for most of the game before coming back late in the fourth behind a monstrous Nikola Jokic triple double and surviving a buzzer-beater attempt that nearly fell for Toronto. Nuggets win 121-119.

The Nuggets started with pace and shots. Gordon and Russell Westbrook both hit threes and Denver got an early lead. Toronto took a timeout and that cooled the home team down. After several turnovers, the Raptors were back within one and the Nuggets were down Gordon, who left the game with what was described as a calf injury. Things remained tight midway through the quarter, with Denver still playing sloppily. Sales were an issue throughout the quarter. The Raptors didn’t knock down many shots in half-court sets, but turnovers gave them too many easy buckets. Toronto’s lead continued to grow as the quarter ended. After a timeout, the Nuggets regained their focus to prevent the lead from growing further. The renewed defensive effort allowed Denver to close things out, highlighted by a huge Hunter Tyson block. At the end of one, the Nuggets trailed 37-34.

From the baseline 📹 https://t.co/rC9iDYdxJu pic.twitter.com/4rlAZD3EVq

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 5, 2024

With Gordon out, Zeke Nnaji got some playing minutes with the bench group. They had enough energy to match the young Raptors, but not the buckets. It wasn’t a particularly great change from DeAndre Jordan, but he made up for it with a great block-to-dunk sequence. After a Christian Braun layup, the Raptors called a timeout with the lead only two. Denver then got Jokic and Porter back in, but Gradey Dick knocked down shots from the outside. He continued to be a threat, scoring, blocking shots and flying after offensive rebounds. Denver kept things close as the quarter ended, but couldn’t quite overcome the Raptors. Turnovers simply killed the Nuggets for the entire first half. On the way to the locker room they trailed 64-59.

Corner bucket 🪣 pic.twitter.com/M5zXeT6baB

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 5, 2024

The second half started with a familiar sight: Dick knocked down a three. The Raptors quickly increased their lead to double digits, while Dick stayed hot and the Nuggets couldn’t hit a three. When the lead was fourteen, Michael Malone took a timeout. Jokic stepped up his offense to stop the bleeding and Denver picked up on their urgency. Braun began running the floor as Jokic punished Jakob Poetl low. The Nuggets continued to take the lead, but small mistakes kept them from getting close. They especially struggled on the defensive glass. Fortunately, the Raptors went cold on the floor, so Denver continued to slowly close the gap. Jokic and the bench ended the quarter with some up-and-down moments. Still, Denver trailed by just five after three quarters.

CB jam 💥 pic.twitter.com/JIIDsnO4zt

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 5, 2024

The Nuggets opened the fourth with Jokic on the bench and Denver predictably struggled to score, but Toronto didn’t get much either. The bench was able to hold serve and when Jokic returned after eight and a half minutes, Raptor’s lead was still five. Offensive rebounds, however, continued to kill Denver, along with Poetl. The Nuggets continued to creep within a few possessions and then had a minute or two of mental lapses to watch the lead get back to almost double digits. Just past the halfway point of the quarter, they were on another run with Watson converting an and-1 to get within six points. Denver finally started to string together some stops while scoring. Julian Strawther brought them within two minutes after making a shooting foul on Poetl, which was also his sixth. Denver had a chance to steal another game from Toronto for them, but they were also running out of time. After a Jokic steal and a Watson transition three, the Nuggets got their first lead since the first quarter. The match went back and forth in the final minute. Denver had a one-point lead in the final moments and Strawther went to the free-throw line but converted only one of the two to give Toronto one last shot. RJ Barrett nailed an incredibly tough three near the halfway mark, but bounced back and the Nuggets escaped with a 121-119 victory.

I have the W pic.twitter.com/zJbEc1Jizn

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) November 5, 2024

Lots of youth on the floor

Braun has been one of the best players for Denver this season and Watson has been a fixture in the rotation, but we got to see some of Denver’s young depth plan work tonight. Braun continued to play well, Watson had his best game of the season, Julian Strawther is proving to be an option for scoring off the bench and the Nuggets’ other young, less heralded reserves also got some big minutes. Tyson continues to look solid as an option for a big wing on the bench. His energy at the plate is much needed and he had some solid defensive highlights as well. Nnaji also did well, all things considered. Yes, he blew an easy dunk, but he was solid. The youth combination also showed great defensive potential in the fourth. With Braun, Strawther and Watson playing alongside Porter and Jokic, the Nuggets were able to convert everything at the rim and create turnovers.

So much self-inflicted pain

The Nuggets certainly did not play their cleanest game tonight. The first half was marred by turnover after turnover and the second half was brutal to watch from the defensive glass. But despite that and the depleted roster, Denver found a way to win. In some ways you want to give them a chance given their patchwork, but on the other hand a lot of the game was just pure sloppiness and failure to adhere to the basic principles. Once they had more energy in the fourth quarter, they started getting stops, turning the tide. The Nuggets can overcome these mistakes against a lottery team like the Raptors, but they will have to be better, including the young guys who will continue to be called upon as part of the depth.

Hopefully it’s nothing serious for AG

Losing Gordon tonight didn’t hurt Denver in the end, but I can’t imagine they can weather the storm for too long without their top power. Gordon plays such an important role for Denver in the dunker spot in their offense and has also scored big time to start the year, adding a whole new element to the Nuggets offense. Calf strain could be anything, so I’m not going to speculate on it. As long as Gordon isn’t on the floor, Denver will likely have to lean on that young depth more than they want.