Nikola Jokic scores 40, Jamal Murray forces overtime at buzzer as Nuggets eke first win of season in Toronto

TORONTO — Arriving in Canada with more pressure on them than any third game of a season should ever entail, the Nuggets had an opportunity to leave their bad start behind in Denver.

Instead, they’re bringing it back through U.S. customs and to Brooklyn for their Tuesday back-to-back against the Nets — but with unimaginably heightened spirits after a 127-125 overtime win over the Raptors on Monday night.

“This felt like a playoff game in game three of the season,” coach Michael Malone said.

Jamal Murray, the hometown kid who received a warm welcome even after his struggles with the Canadian national team this summer, drove the baseline for a game-tying reverse layup with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, completing a 13-3 run in the last 2 minutes, 10 seconds. Murray was 4 of 15 for 12 points before the clutch bucket, which gave him his only points of the fourth quarter and his first made field goal since the 10:34 mark of the third.

“We know that we have the best post-up player in the world. Let’s play through him; let him make the right read,” Malone said of the last play-call in regulation. “And obviously him and Jamal kind of playing off of each other. Jamal makes a hell of a finish with the reverse layup.”

The dramatic run started with a Christian Braun 3-pointer. It ended with a somewhat unorthodox game-management plan. The Nuggets avoided their first 0-3 start of Nikola Jokic’s career and Malone’s coaching tenure by deliberately going for two points in a game they trailed by three with 21 seconds remaining. Jokic scored on a post-up, then Denver sent Davion Mitchell back to the foul line after he had just missed half of a pair. He did so again, giving the visitors an opportunity to force overtime without having to rely on their perceived Achilles heel, the 3-point shot.

“There’s so much time on the clock. I didn’t feel we needed to rush with 20-plus seconds on the clock, and you have Nikola Jokic,” Malone said. “… If you go for the three and you miss, then you’ve gotta foul, now the game maybe starts to get away from you a little bit. Down three with a lot of time, let’s get a quick two. And we did that. And now you’re playing the steal game. Steal, foul game. And they missed another free throw. … Everything worked out in our favor.”

Outside shooting wasn’t the Nuggets’ weakness this time. Besieged by their own failure to win the paint, where they’re supposed to wield their greatest advantage, they dug another double-digit hole despite making most of their 3s. They finished the night 9 for 20 from deep, including a Jokic dagger that doubled the lead in overtime. He scored 40 points (on 18-for-27 shooting) for the second game in a row, after doing so three times all season in 2023-24.

Denver’s next-highest scorers were Braun and Murray, with 17 points each.

“Maybe it hasn’t settled in yet, just playing so many games, but obviously just being at home, I’ve got some of my best friends here. Friends and family,” Murray said. “So it’s always cool, you know. We only come here once a year. … It was just nice to kind of have that moment, and be able to look back on it. I don’t know. Maybe I have hit a shot like that (in Toronto). … Maybe not.”

The Nuggets were playing from behind most of the night again. They shot 54% from the floor and 5 for 8 from outside in the first half, even getting to the foul line twice as often as the hosts. But they trailed 62-54 anyway because Toronto outscored them 42-28 in the lane and attempted 12 more field goals in the half, a stat that Malone’s squad partially owed to its 12 turnovers.

It wasn’t only the bench this time. Denver’s starting lineup was to blame as the Raptors quickly expanded their lead to 15 early in the second half. And it was to blame for an early distress-call timeout by Malone after the Raptors scored on their first six possessions of the game.

“I think it’s just kind of knocking some of the dust off, I guess,” Aaron Gordon said. “I think that’s really what it comes down to. We’ll be a well-oiled machine when we need to be.”

Malone’s game-to-game adjustments continued. From the first to the second, it was which player he chose to stagger with the second unit. Michael Porter Jr. replaced Murray with the lineup to “space the floor and give (opponents) different looks,” he explained pregame Monday. He also mentioned that it would allow Murray to stay in more of a rhythm, referencing his own preseason comment that Murray’s usual sub pattern can get “choppy.” The problem: Murray still finished 6 for 20 from the field in his latest Ontario homecoming, even if he made the most important shot of the night.

From the second to the third game, it was an increase in Julian Strawther’s minutes. The second-year guard has struggled as an on-ball defender, but Denver has nonetheless needed his efficiency to provide a rare breath of fresh air with Murray and Porter struggling to score. After playing 33 combined minutes in the first two games, Strawther was on the floor for more than 22 on Monday. He didn’t miss a shot en route to nine points.

The search for answers even forced a hand that Malone typically reserves for playoff games and high-leverage regular-season situations. He shortened the rotation to eight men in the second half, playing Gordon at the five with the second unit. Dario Saric, the offseason acquisition who has struggled at both ends of the floor, sat the whole half.

“Dario’s just gotta keep playing and fight through it,” Malone said. “He had some good chances tonight that just didn’t go down. We found him in the pocket. But I wanted to match Aaron’s minutes with Scottie Barnes. … It was just more about giving ourselves the best chance with that matchup.”

Not even Gordon has transcended the team’s slow start to this season, but he managed to overcome four first-half turnovers this time in his best overall game. He registered 16 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and a nose-to-nose confrontation with Barnes early in the fourth quarter after Russell Westbrook’s flagrant foul prevented a transition layup. That bit of passion briefly sparked something in the bench unit — it closed the gap to 91-89.

“I just didn’t like how (Barnes) was yelling at Russ,” Gordon said.

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.