CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nuggets defenders and Hornets fans held their breath every time a shot went up for a few unusually suspenseful minutes at the end of the third quarter.
Would a single one go in before the clock ran out?
The Nuggets had briefly snapped out of holiday back-to-back mode, a malaise that overtook them in the first half and fourth quarter Saturday night. For the time being, that mindset was suitably replaced by relentless defense, aided by unwitting Charlotte shot-missing, in a staggering third quarter that cemented Denver’s fifth consecutive road win, 102-95, over the shorthanded Hornets at Spectrum Center.
“Coach (Michael Malone) laid into us a little bit at halftime, and we knew we had to come out there aggressive on the defensive end,” said Michael Porter Jr., who led the Nuggets with 22 points on 5-of-8 shooting beyond the arc. “We wanted to win tonight because of our defense, not our offense.”
The Nuggets (21-10) trailed 60-54 at halftime 24 hours after playing in Brooklyn. They proceeded to score the first 17 points of the second half, part of an extended 25-1 run in a quarter that ended 30-9. The Hornets missed their first 20 shot attempts of the quarter, needing 11 minutes, two seconds to finally score from the field and six minutes, 14 seconds to score at all. The latter drought was snapped amusingly by a defensive three seconds in the lane call against Denver.
“That’s one of the more impressive runs that I can remember in my nine years in Denver,” Malone said.
In total, the Hornets went 17 consecutive possessions without a point.
By the final minutes of the period, the question of whether they would make a basket was the only thing keeping fans on the edge of their seats.
By the late stages of the fourth, it was a question of whether the home team would ever miss a shot. Denver’s 18-point lead was narrowed to 97-94 with 3:25 remaining as the Hornets found their stroke again. Excluding the third quarter, they shot 49.2% in the game.
But after the lead was cut to three, Nikola Jokic used a post spin move to get himself an open layup, and Aaron Gordon made two key defensive plays in the last 90 seconds, taking a charge and blocking a perimeter shot. Once more, the Nuggets clamped down on the Hornets for three scoreless minutes when it mattered most.
In its league-leading 31st game, Denver got double-doubles from Jokic (18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) and Jamal Murray (20 points and 12 rebounds).
“That’s a great quarter,” Murray said of the game’s defining stretch. “That’s one we can always look back on and try to compare — if we ever have a bad quarter, we can always compare it to where we want to be.”
Rim protection hasn’t been the Hornets’ forte this season. They were 20th in the league in blocks (4.6 per game) and 25th in points in the paint allowed (54.1 per game) as Denver came to town. Opponents were making 60.6% of shots inside of 10 feet against them, the sixth-worst defended field goal percentage in the NBA from that range.
But in the first half, the Nuggets inexplicably couldn’t get a shot up over Charlotte’s interior defenders. Denver shot 12 of 26 in the paint and was outscored 38-24 inside in the first half, as the Hornets blocked eight shots. The Nuggets ended up winning the battle in the paint by holding Charlotte to six in the second half.
“I thought to start the game, we weren’t here. It’s amazing we were down six at the half with the start we had,” Malone said. “Just challenged our guys to be present. If we’re here, do your job. And do it with energy and do it with effort. I just told our guys how proud I was of them because they didn’t feel sorry for themselves; they weren’t pissed that I challenged them. They owned it. … When we play at that level, who can beat us? But why does it have to take me to challenge (them)? And I know we’re tired. We’ve had a crazy schedule, so I know guys are tired.”
Ish Smith, who won his first career title with the Nuggets at 34 years old in June, got his first start of the season for Charlotte, where he signed before opening day in October. With LaMelo Ball not playing, Smith registered seven of his eight assists in the first half, helping the Hornets to an 8-0 and 12-2 start.
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