The Denver Nuggets had no choice; if they wanted to have a realistic chance to sneak back into the playoff picture they needed to beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Friday night.
By the end of four quarters and an overtime period, the Nuggets managed to find a way to escape with their best, and most important, win of the season to the tune of a 126-125 overtime victory over the Thunder.
Everything was seemingly stacked against the Nuggets coming into their game against Oklahoma City. With the 2017-18 season seemingly on the line, the Nuggets responded with what is likely the gutsiest win of the entire season. Even with the Nuggets’ matchup with the Thunder coming as the final game of a grueling seven-game and fifteen-day road trip, Denver found a way to win when it seemed nearly impossible.
While the win was terrific, what was most important was how Denver was able to accomplish such a high-caliber victory.
First and foremost, Denver’s four-time All-Star and $3o million man came to play. There is a common ideology that veteran leadership shows up on the road and the Nuggets — who had lost four of their last six games coming into their matchup with the Thunder — needed every last drop of production that Paul Millsap gave them on Friday night. He poured in a season-high 36 points on 13-18 shooting to go with eight rebounds, two assists, and Millsap’s typical terrific defense.
Even with Millsap going off, the ball largely flowed through Nikola Jokic. He consistently made the correct reads and decisions while playing at a great pace for the majority of the game. Jokic finished with 23 points on 11-22 shooting to go with 16 rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks. He was highly engaged on both ends of the floor and his effort level showed in his play.
What was even better to see was when the Nuggets needed Jokic and Millsap the most, they showed up and delivered. In the second half and overtime, Jokic and Millsap accumulated a total of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists against just two turnovers on 15-25 shooting. That is the frontcourt production that had the Nuggets salivating during the preseason.
When Millsap and Jokic weren’t feasting, the rest of the roster continued to make their presence felt. Make no mistake about it; the Nuggets won because of their frontcourt tandem Jokic and Millsap, but the likes of Will Barton, Jamal Murray, Devin Harris, Torrey Craig, Trey Lyles, and Mason Plumlee kept the Nuggets from losing their grip on multiple different occasions.
The Nuggets wouldn’t even have had a chance to win the game in overtime if it wasn’t for the heroics of one Will “the Thrill” Barton, who hit a layup at the end of the fourth quarter to give the Nuggets the tie that would eventually send the game to overtime. Same goes for Plumlee’s block on Jerami Grant that would have given the Thunder the lead late in the game.
When the bench unit would falter, either Devin Harris would hit a timely three or show off his impressive boost getting to the rim. When that was not working, Craig would throw down a vicious put-back dunk and hit a three. Craig starting to struggle too? Well, Lyles is just waiting to get to the rim and also dish out three assists. The bench unit never had a moment where they were all playing well simultaneously, but they did enough to keep the Nuggets afloat individually.
Without those plays, there is no way the Nuggets escaped with the desperately-needed victory. In a game with everything stacked against them, the Nuggets came together as a team found a way to keep their playoff hopes alive in spectacular fashion and they did so by playing through their two best players and getting production from the rest of the roster.
The Nuggets’ playoff hopes will live to see another day.
