Raptors fall quick in opposition to Nuggets however stay assured momentum is constructing

DENVER — Momentum is the following day’s beginning pitcher. 

It’s a baseball truism, credited to Baltimore Orioles supervisor Earl Weaver. But it’s spring. Baseball season is across the nook, and it’s broadly relevant. The Toronto Raptors couldn’t have arrived in Denver in a greater state: absolutely wholesome aside from the troublesome left thumb that has saved rookie Colin Murray-Boyles out for his 10^th consecutive recreation. 

They have been additionally coming off three straight wins, every spectacular in its personal approach.

You may really feel the Raptors’ vitality uptick. Even in Denver. 

“There’s so much opportunity out there for them. I think they see that,” stated Nuggets head coach David Adelman. “You don’t know what’s gonna happen … I think they’ve been playing on a high all year because they’ve been in the mix all year … they’re a legit team in the conference. When you feel like that late in the season, it’s kind of a new feeling. They’re taking advantage of that. The momentum is high right now.”

But the Nuggets had three-time MVP Nikola Jokic taking the mound Friday evening. Canadian all-star Jamal Murray ready in reduction. The staff that was lacking 4 starters after they beat the Raptors in Toronto on New Year’s Eve was lacking solely Peyton Watson.

Would the Raptors’ momentum, constructed on wins over Phoenix, Detroit and Chicago, proceed to construct? Or would the Nuggets mow them down like prime Roy Halladay?

The last rating — 121-115 in favour of Denver — suggests no, the momentum didn’t carry over. At least not fully.

But a extra charitable interpretation is that the Raptors have been within the combine down the stretch in opposition to a veteran staff with championship aspirations and solely didn’t beat Denver at what they do finest: manipulating the ultimate possessions of shut video games, one thing that has been a Raptors weak spot for a lot of the season.

But the Raptors (39-30) stay fifth within the Eastern Conference as they head to Phoenix for the third recreation on their five-game street journey. And they continue to be assured that they’ve one thing constructing.

The Raptors starters, for instance, have been all within the double figures, led by one other spectacular outing by Jakob Poeltl, who completed with 23 factors, 11 rebounds and two steals and helped maintain Jokic to a comparatively modest (for him) 22 factors, eight rebounds and 9 assists — all beneath his season averages. As a bunch, the Raptors starters have been plus-17 in 17 minutes in opposition to top-of-the-line beginning items within the NBA.

And they bought a pleasant set off the bench from Ja’Kobe Walter, who scored 11 of his 14 factors within the first half and was 4-of-5 on threes.

“The more we get healthy, the more we play together, the better it’s going to be for us,” stated RJ Barrett (18 factors on 6-of-14 taking pictures, 4 turnovers), who spent lengthy stretches of the sport matched up with Canadian Olympic teammate Murray. “I think we’re showing that on a nightly basis. But there are times and moments that we can play better as a team.”

For lengthy stretches in opposition to the Nuggets, it was occurring. The vitality was there. The snap. The defensive effort in opposition to the NBA’s top-ranked offence.

The Raptors had an awesome begin to the sport, leaping out to an 11-2 lead and main after the primary quarter. If the Nuggets pushed again and have been in a position to take a four-point lead at halftime, the Raptors have been poised to grab that benefit with emphasis.

The Raptors got here out after halftime and dominated. At one level, they hit 9 straight pictures within the third.

In all, they transformed 11 of their first 14 discipline aim makes an attempt, fuelled by 5 Nuggets turnovers and shot 17-of-22 for the quarter and had 10 of their 32 assists as they opened up a nine-point result in take into the fourth quarter.

But the Nuggets have been taking part in at residence and coming off considered one of their most disappointing losses of the season, on the street in opposition to the tanking Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. They have massive objectives and, because the sixth seed within the West, are feeling some urgency about constructing some momentum of their very own to maintain them in sight.

With Jokic on the bench, it was Murray who helped lead a Nuggets surge as he scored 12 of his game-high 31 factors within the last body. In the area of 90 seconds to begin the fourth, he assisted former Raptor Bruce Brown (12 factors on 4-of-6 taking pictures) on a 3, hit a troublesome fadeaway jumper after which a 3 of his personal to chop the Raptors’ result in one.

It was his approach of claiming that every thing was going to be positive.

“You know, even when they made shots, guys were still in the ball,” stated Murray. “Guys were still playing hard and calling out coverage and stuff. But I mean, they’re still a good team, so they’re up on us, and we just made a good push, like we normally do.”

But the Raptors made their very own push. Brandon Ingram (19 factors on 7-of-12 taking pictures) hit a protracted jumper and a triple. Scottie Barnes (15 factors, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks) attacked the paint for 3 essential buckets and even blocked Jokic on a post-up.

It was a one or two-possession recreation for a lot of the fourth quarter, and after Poeltl scored on a reverse lay-up, he was fouled by Jokic and made the free throw to complete the three-point play. The recreation was tied with 59 seconds left.

But the Raptors’ momentum stalled from there. The Nuggets have been in a position to go to variations of the Jokic-Murray two-man recreation that has been the NBA’s finest for practically a decade now, and have been rewarded. In the ultimate 4 minutes of the sport, considered one of Jokic or Murray scored or assisted on each Nuggets bucket.

Prior to that, veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. had hit a pair of threes off offensive rebounds the Raptors weren’t in a position to monitor down. He scored 23 factors on 7-of-10 three-point taking pictures.  

The Raptors may solely lament that they couldn’t make their push final. Did their momentum carry over? Not fully, however they didn’t squander it.

“When we have a third quarter like that, we have to try and keep the momentum rolling into the fourth,” stated Barrett. “They play very physical, one of the most physical teams, so all these games coming up now against these good teams, everyone is trying to fight for seeding everything. It’s playoff intensity.”

And for probably the most half, the Raptors introduced simply that right into a tough atmosphere in opposition to a seasoned staff with expectations of taking part in in June.

The Nuggets are searching for momentum too:

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” stated Murray.  “But we just gotta go at our own pace and then focus on each game. And I thought tonight was like a great bounce-back energy game in front of our home fans. That’s just the energy we need to play with. Those were, those are the games where, if we had lost that game, our effort would have been something that I could have slept well with, you know. So it’s just good to come up with a win and start building some great.”

Yes, Murray and Jokic have seen that defence earlier than: I requested Murray about his reference to Jokic, who the Kitchener native has performed together with his whole nine-year profession, and that is what he stated: “There’s a lot of communication with no words, just with the basketball and with our eyes,” he stated. “And we’ve created a really good chemistry and also feel for each other. You know, we might have coverages, but he also reads me, and I read him and like, him as a being, he reads me and my emotion and stuff like that. So, yeah, we’ve seen a lot of coverages. We’ve seen teams being in a drop, teams being up with me. Teams try to switch it. They try to weaken it. Sometimes there’s teams that bring three defenders over. Teams that front him. So we just figure it out.”

Champagne issues: Nuggets head coach Adelman made an attention-grabbing remark about how Denver’s standing as one of many NBA’s marquee groups affords a singular problem that the Raptors, for instance, don’t face of their present iteration: “With the streaming stations, obviously there are more national games,” stated Adelman. “The league, they’re partners with these people. It’s cool to be important and that they want to see us play on national TV (but) going into back-to-backs is tough when you play a late game and lose an hour. We’ve done that three straight weeks, and we’re gonna do it again next week … I know (Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr) has talked about a (lower) number of games to make sure the basketball is quality … I agree with that. Or if you want a traditional 82, for the history of the game, statistically is important, I think they have to find a way to expand the calendar a little bit, in my opinion.”

The widespread man: It’s by no means a nasty day whenever you run into Jonas Valanciunas. A number of acquainted faces bought an opportunity to meet up with the much-loved former Raptor the morning of the sport. He’s had an honest season taking part in back-up minutes for the Nuggets. He’s taking part in a career-low 13 minutes a recreation in his 14th season however nonetheless contributes 8.3 factors and 4.9 rebounds a recreation — that’s 22 factors and 13 rebounds on per 36-minute foundation. He’s not misplaced his sense of humour, nevertheless. “What are you doing here so early?” (The Nuggets didn’t have a shootaround.) Without lacking a beat: “I’m still a young guy. Here early to get my shots up to impress the coaches.” He stated he’s loved Denver: quiet, good for households, first rate eating places. Downside? The dry air: “I never had to use body lotion until I came here,” he stated. Very relatable.