Raptors lose a dramatic, hard fought matchup in Denver, 121-119

RJ Barrett’s last second three point attempt would roll out of the rim to hand the Raptors the loss in night one of their road trip.

Toronto gets their western road trip out of the way early this season, beginning on Monday in Denver.

These two teams had just met in Toronto last week, where the Nuggets came back late in the final moments to force OT, where they would complete their comeback and secure the win. Does that sound familiar?

Well, what a finish for those who stayed up with the late start time. Albeit, not one Raptors fans would be happy with (except for some of you tank commanders).

Still missing a number of main pieces, the Raptors headed out west pretty depleted. Somewhat luckily for them, so are the Nuggets, who were missing Jamal Murray amongst an already slow start for the 2023 champions.

Early on, the teams traded baskets, with the Nuggets eventually pulling away to a seven point lead. That’s where the game changed.

The Raptors came roaring back with an 11-2 run and took the lead for the first time in the matchup. The game would remain close for much of the opening frame, with Nikola Jokic pretty quiet early on. Aaron Gordon would exit the game early in the first quarter due to a calf strain, he would not return to the game.

Someone who’s never done anything quietly is Raptors second year guard Gradey Dick, who would lead the team in scoring with 26 points and got started right from the first quarter.

The three time MVP would rear his head later on in the 1st quarter, pulling the Nuggets back into the game his playmaking to keep it a 3-point Raptors lead after one.

The second quarter would unfold much like the first. Gradey Dick emerging as an all-around scorer, draining shots at a career-high clip, Nikola Jokic quietly picking apart a defence, spreading the ball around and lots of players getting looks from both squads. It would remain a tight, back and forth, albeit Raptors lead, matchup right up until halftime, with Toronto up by five points.

Right out of the gate to begin the second half, the Raptors were determined to win this game. Gradey and RJ led the way, extending the lead up to a game high 14 points.

The 2023 champs, however, would not go away easily. A Nuggets timeout ended the Raptors run and started one of their own, led by the best player in basketball.

The Serbian’s efforts seemed to kickstart his team, with Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Michael Porter Jr and Russell Westbrook scoring points in the back half of the third quarter to keep their team in it. Much like the Raptors, Denver was playing shorthanded without Gordon and Jamal Murray not even suiting up for the matchup due to a concussion.

Toronto’s offensive well would begin to run dry towards the end of the third, and they would head into the final frame with only a five point lead.

Raptors fan or not, the fourth quarter of this game was absolute cinema. The first four minutes or so went the way the game had gone to that point, with Toronto holding onto their single digit lead. Then, all of a sudden, the Raptors started pulling away.

Jakob Poeltl, with a season high 24 points, was working the interior with Jokic off the floor. Jamal Shead would step up with a pair of clutch free throws, and of course, Gradey Dick would continue to add to the lead. Toronto would extend their lead to 11 points and look to finally take hold of this game and put the Nuggets to bed, but Denver wasn’t going down without a fight.

With Jokic back on the floor, Denver would run everything through their big man. Jokic scored or assisted on nine straight points for the Nuggets, quickly closing Toronto’s lead all the way down to four, where Julian Strawther’s free throws would make it a one possession ball game. It also didn’t help that Poeltl would foul out for Toronto, leaving the team without their best interior defender and best defensive matchup against Jokic.

Slowly but surely, Joker would pick apart the Raptors defence possession after possession. Scoring efforts from Agbaji, Mogbo and Barrett didn’t slow the momentum in their opponent, or the home crowd either.

Randomly, Michael Porter Jr would put his passing abilites on display, setting up Watson and Strawther to give Denver a one point lead. Having not led since the game was 20-19, the home crowd was fully behind their squad and were letting the Raptors hear it. What was once a dead silent crowd for most of the night, was now providing that sixth-man support.

A comedy of errors between teams led to a Raptors offensive rebound and attempted three from Davion Mitchell, who wouldn’t even hit the rim and cause a shot clock violation. The Nuggets in possession, Mitchell would foul Strawther on the inbound and send the second-year forward to the line in a clutch situation.

The Nuggets wing would miss the first and make the second, setting up one final possession for the Raptors as they trailed by two points, with less than 12 seconds left.

The ball was inbounded to RJ Barrett, who completely dropped Watson with a crossover, but still managed to get the foul off with Denver having one to give.

Coach Rajakovic called a timeout and set up an iso for RJ Barrett once again, this time with less than six seconds left. Being guarded by Russell Westbrook, the hometown Raptor sized up the former MVP and stepped back for a three.

It was inside the rim, and it spun, and it spun again, and then… out. No good. Raptors lose.

A heartbreaking end to what was a very close, hard fought and impressive effort from a depleted team that had little to no expectations to begin with. If this is what this group can pull off while down a handful of regulars, that speaks volumes to Toronto’s development and coaching systems.

We’ll see how they continue building upon this scrappy, young core when Barnes, Quickley, Brown and Olynyk return later this season. For now, the Raptors take the short flight from Denver to Sacramento for night two of a five game road trip, where they visit another western opponent who they’ve faced already this season.