The Denver Nuggets are flying high after a week that saw victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder and defending champion Golden State Warriors. The two straight victories led the Nuggets into a Monday night matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. Three-point shooting was the recipe for the Nuggets as they dismantled the Hornets 121-104 for their third consecutive victory. In the game, the Nuggets shot over 52 percent from distance drilling 18 three-pointers as opposed to the Hornets eleven. Gary Harris scored 15 first quarter points on five three pointers and the Nuggets never looked back after that. Harris would finish the night with 27 points on 9-13 from the field was tied for the team lead in the +/- department with a +17.
To start last week the Nuggets suffered two tough losses to the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs when both games came down to last second shots by Will Barton. Neither game the Nuggets pulled out, and it seemed for a moment that the team was falling into a rut. On the flip side though, the Nuggets lost to two of the top five teams in the NBA by a combined total of three points and have now proved to us that they really were closer than we expected.
Last Thursday the Nuggets welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to town in a primetime game on TNT. The Nuggets debuted their new “city” jerseys and looked ready to run the Thunder out of the building after the third quarter. With a lead that reached as big as 20, the Nuggets fluttered late in the game and allowed the Thunder to tie the game on a Paul George three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation. George would go for 43 points, but his performance was overshadowed by that of Nikola Jokic and Gary Harris. After a timeout, the Nuggets had one last hope to end the game in regulation and win a game they so desperately needed. After Harris was able to slip away from Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic whipped a pass across the three-point line and found a wide open Harris who drilled the game winner for the Nuggets.
The victory over the Thunder would lead the Nuggets into a matchup against the Golden State Warriors at the Pepsi Center. The crowd at Pepsi Center was mostly wearing #35 jerseys for Kevin Durant and number #30 jerseys for Steph Curry, but it still proved to be the highest attended Nuggets game ever with an attendance of 20,103. The fans were in for a treat, as the Nuggets would beat the defending champions 115-108.
With a record of 29-25, the Nuggets now move into a tie with the Portland Trail Blazers for the sixth spot in the Western Conference. By virtue of tiebreakers, the Nuggets are ahead of the Blazers and are just a game behind the Thunder for the fifth seed in the conference. With the return of all-star Paul Millsap looking on the horizon, the Nuggets have done a great job staying competitive in the Western Conference after one of their best players has missed over 30 games this season.
The Nuggets now have three days off before they’re back in action Friday night to take on the Houston Rockets. The team will then head to Phoenix on a back to back before they finish up against the Spurs and Bucks in route to the NBA’s all-star break. The Nuggets will have a whole week off during the all-star break and will have a great chance to recover and gear up for a run at the playoffs during the second half of the regular season.
