CLEVELAND – The ball movement was pristine, and the shot was even cleaner.
Michael Porter Jr. sunk a clutch 3-pointer with little over two minutes left Thursday night, and the Nuggets survived, 115-109, to knock off the feisty Cavaliers. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Denver’s other 3-point sniper, whipped the assist en route to Denver’s 17th 3-pointer of the night.
The two combined for 10 3s in the win, helping to combat not only Cleveland’s stifling defense but the Cavs’ 68 points in the paint. Roving big man Evan Mobley was menacing with 31 points himself.
Nikola Jokic authored his league-leading 22nd triple-double of the season with 24 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. The Nuggets won their fourth game in a row to improve to 42-18 on the season with a visit to Memphis on deck.
Jamal Murray returned for the first time in six games and finished with 16 points on just 6-of-19 shooting. The win was even more impressive considering Aaron Gordon missed his fourth consecutive game with a rib contusion.
After back-to-back Mobley dunks, Denver’s chances looked ominous as there was no way to combat Cleveland’s size. Gordon’s absence, in this instance, was demoralizing. But Jokic began hunting his shot and probing for mismatches. Midway through the third quarter he rifled a blind pass to the corner where Porter was waiting to bury the 3. Unaccustomed to seeing that kind of vision, Cleveland’s home crowd was audibly impressed. Porter hit another one soon after, and the Nuggets were suddenly tied, at 80, once again.
Reggie Jackson tied a bow on his Nuggets debut when he canned a 60-foot 3-pointer to end the third quarter and pull Denver to within 91-89. Jackson helped shepherd the second unit, alongside Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, Jeff Green and Thomas Bryant. His experience and pace helped inject a different level of energy into Denver’s bench unit.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone didn’t seem overly concerned about Gordon’s rib contusion, which, according to a league source, isn’t a fracture but was still bothersome to his play.
“It’s not where I’d wish it would be,” Malone said before the game.
Even though Gordon wasn’t in Cleveland, Malone said he could sense a palpable enthusiasm from the rest of his team after they’d convened following the break.
“There was an excitement in the gym,” he said. “I think the guys are pretty excited with what we’ve done to this point. … (But) we understand that none of that really matters.”
What mattered Thursday was containing the Cavaliers, whose length inside was a matchup nightmare for all teams. In fact, it was a priority according to Malone entering the game.
Cleveland carried a 57-56 lead into halftime on the strength of 40 points in the paint. Mobley had 16 of them, exposing Denver’s defensive deficiencies inside. Jokic was almost as dominant on the offensive end of the court, ending the first half with 10 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
But he wasn’t nearly as aggressive as the Nuggets needed him to be. Murray and Porter each buried two 3-pointers to help supplement the scoring against the NBA’s No. 1 defense.
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