Recap: Toronto Raptors vs Denver Nuggets Final — 125 – 119

The undermanned Raptors fought hard and led for most of the game before dropping a close one to the reigning champions.

Despite the depleted lineup, this was one of the most shocking and exciting Raptors games of the entire season. Starting with the BOBA Dick lineup — credit fellow Raptors HQ writer Jay Rosales — Toronto looked like cattle fodder for the reigning NBA Champions who boast the league’s second best home record at 26-6.

Yet, it turned into an impressive showing from the Raptors youth and bench players in some heavily elevated roles.

To start the game, two of the best passing big men in the game lined up for tip-off. Unsurprisingly, the reigning Finals MVP, and the taller one, won the tip and started with the ball.

Nikola Jokic turned the ball over — something you don’t see all too often — on the first possession of the game as Gradey Dick stole it and took it on the fast break. Dick’s layup unfortunately rolled out and despite a good attempt, Bruce Brown was unable to get the put back.

Jokic connected with his intended target the next time around and found Aaron Gordon in the paint for one of his signature dunks. The play opened the scoring and gave Denver their first lead of the game, but it didn’t last long.

Starting point guard Bruce Brown found Olynyk on the perimeter where the big man knocked down a three and gave Toronto their first lead of the game. That would also not last very long, as both bigs would miss a three before a jumper from Jokic gave Denver the lead back. This time, they would keep it for a while.

It was typical Nuggets basketball, running the offence through the offensive monster that is Nikola Jokic. He was finding Gordon in the paint for dunks, layups or drawn fouls, and their collective gravity drew in the Raptors defence to give Michael Porter Jr. a few good looks from three, knocking down two of them.

The Raptors offence was clicking as well, just not at the same level. With Quickley out, RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk were assisting Brown with the lead ball handler responsibilities, getting looks of their own and finding others for easy shots.

As seamless as the Nuggets offence was, the Raptors defence was better than expected too. Led by Gradey Dick with two steals in the quarter, the second of which resulted in a pull up three in transition to take the lead back with three minutes to go.

Denver called timeout, but just couldn’t stop Toronto’s run. With Jokic on the bench and Dick and Brown the only Raptors starters on the court, Toronto continued to pull away with the lead. A 7-0 run across 90 seconds of game time was ended with a three from Christian Braun, but kept the Raptors in the lead at 34-32 at the end of the first.

More than two minutes into the second quarter, Braun’s three was still the last points Denver scored. Jalen McDaniels, Jontay Porter — who turns out is the younger brother of Nuggets wing Michael Porter Jr. — and Barrett combined for an 11-0 Raptors run to open the second frame.

Braun would once again end the run, this time off a layup from a Jokic pass. Again, it only spurred a large Raptors run.

Across five minutes of playing time, Toronto went on an 11-4 run, increasing their lead to 18 points. A pair of buckets from Jokic and Gordon were not only matched, but exceeded by back to back threes from Gradey and Porter who assisted on the other’s basket. Dick’s three put the Raptors up by 20 and was added onto as he assisted on a layup from Ochai Agbaji.

Just under three minutes left in the half, Denver would repsond back with a smaller run of their own. Going 7-4, capped off by a three from Jamal Murray, the Nuggets drew back within 20 as Toronto led 68-51 entering halftime.

At the half, Gradey Dick led all scorers with 15 points and two threes. Jontay Porter actually tied for the lead in threes with Dick, outscoring his older brother Michael who’s best known for his three-point shooting ability. Porter also led the team in assists with five, needing only one more to tie his career high.

Starting the second half, Denver made up some ground. Jokic and Murray combined for their team’s first 13 points of the third quarter, but the Raptors were scoring as well. More specifically, Kelly Olynyk was scoring, as the Canadian big produced 10 of Toronto’s first 12 points of the second half.

Four minutes in, the Nuggets had only clawed back two points off of the Raptors lead. Olynyk would continue to score and keep Denver at bay when it looked like they were drawing in close.

The game continued back and forth, Toronto neither extending nor losing ground on their lead until roughly the five minute mark. Jokic was sent to the line and knocked down both free throws, spurring a 13-3 Denver run across three minutes of play.

The run let all of the air out of Toronto’s tires, which wasn’t helped by the cheers of the home crowd. Then, a put back from life-long Raptors fan Jordan Nwora gave Toronto some life back. The Raptors forced Jokic to miss a jumper which led to Porter’s game-leading fourth three of the night, bringing the lead back to 10 points.

The three ball would end up being Toronto’s final points of the quarter, as Denver kept up with the pressure. Jokic and Reggie Jackson led a 7-0 run in the final minute of play and all of a sudden, the lead was down to five points entering the fourth quarter, 98-93 Toronto.

No one scored for nearly a minute to start the fourth. Reggie Jackson extending his scoring streak to six consecutive points when he opened the scoring with a short jumper, cutting the lead to three. Barrett responded, bringing it back to five and drew the foul on the bucket, bringing it up to six.

He nearly extended it to seven after Murray brought it back to four, but a three point miss led to a Peyton Watson three. Just like that, it was a one point game early in the fourth quarter.

A Bruce Brown layup would be the only points for the next minute and also gave RJ Barrett a career high in assists with 10. A drive from Barrett then led to a jump ball that thankfully ended up in a Raptors possession after it deflected off of a Denver player when trying to gain possession.

Jamal Murray would break the scoreless draught with a left-handed layup, bringing the game back to within one and causing a Raptors timeout.

Out of the timeout, a pair of baskets from Jalen McDaniels kept the Raptors in front, but an insane string of possessions from Jamal Murray nearly brought it back to a tie.

Nearly a minute of scoreless basketball ensued before, who else, but Jamal Murray with a clutch floater that gave Denver its first lead since the first quarter.

The basket ignited the Nuggets, who took that one point lead and extended it to five off baskets and a block from Jokic and Gordon. Toronto would then call another timeout.

The Raptors came out of it regrouped, with Gradey Dick setting a career high with seven assists, Agbaji getting in on the scoring and Barrett not letting the team go down without a fight. However, they were completely outmatched by the championship level two man game of Jokic and Murray.

The duo scored or assisted on all but one of Denver’s final 13 points, and led the way to the comeback win as the Raptors lost 125-119.

The loss was expected with the amount of injuries the team was dealing with and having to play an opponent of this calibre on home court, but how we got there was a complete surprise.

The resiliency and fight from the undermanned Raptors was not only exciting to watch, but instilled hope for the future of this team once they get fully healthy for next season and their young players take another step in their development.

Gradey Dick posted a career high in assists and was all over the court tonight. Scoring, setting up plays and getting defensive stop, the former 13th overall pick looks to be coming into his own and becoming exactly the player Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster envisioned when they selected him last summer.

RJ Barrett built upon his already improved playmaking abilities with a career high in assists of his own. Bruce Brown had what was likely his best game as a Raptor to date, posting a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Last, but certainly not least, what a game from Jontay Porter.

Playing against his older brother Michael Jr., Jontay had maybe his best career NBA game. He fell one assist shy of tying his career high, led the game in threes with four and added a two pointer for 14 points combined.

While it falls as another loss in the column, leading the reigning champions for much of the game despite missing six players shows the culture Darko Rajakovic is building in the locker room and that the future is bright for the Toronto Raptors.

The team has one more stop on their road trip, facing Detroit on Wednesday night before returning home for a matchup against Orlando on Friday.