CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Salvaging this road trip was not easy for the Nuggets, but they got the job done at the last minute on two consecutive nights.
Trailing the Hornets by four with 52 seconds remaining, Denver ended the game on a 7-0 run to escape with a 107-104 win Saturday and return home on a two-game winning streak. Nikola Jokic went for 28 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists, scoring five points in the final minute after scoring eight in the same amount of time Friday night at Philadelphia.
Christian Braun added 24 points and 11 assists on a night when the Nuggets (30-19) couldn’t buy a 3-pointer, finishing 7 for 37 as a team.
Michael Malone used a timeout with 3:20 to go after Miles Bridges attacked a Jamal Murray switch to tie the game at 98, setting up another tense road ending for the Nuggets. They had scored only eight points in the fourth quarter at that point.
With exactly two minutes left, Jokic thought he put Denver on top 102-100, but the Hornets challenged a goal-tending call, revealing that Jokic seemingly grazed the ball with his finger while it was over the cylinder first. The basket was eliminated, and Bridges scored the next four points. The Nuggets were in danger of a 1-4 road trip.
But Jokic answered with a 3-point play, and the Nuggets were able to get the ball out of Bridges’ hands to force a missed three by CU alum KJ Simpson. Jokic was fouled 70 feet from the basket after securing the rebound. After his free throws gave Denver a one-point edge, Bridges rushed a bad shot, leading to a run-out layup for Murray. Murray disrupted Nick Smith Jr. on a game-tying 3-point attempt before time expired.
Russell Westbrook (left hamstring) and Peyton Watson (right knee) missed their first game of the season after they both limped to the bench with separate injuries Friday during the fourth quarter. Michael Malone did not express grave concern for either of them, but he wasn’t able to share specific return timelines, either.
“I think we’ll have a much better idea when we get back to Denver and after we … let the injuries calm down a little bit and then have our docs look at them,” he said. “… I think Peyton just knocked knees a little bit last night. So don’t have a real clear picture of where that’s at right now.”
Their absences caused wrinkles to the rotation, some new and some old. Braun, two games removed from being benched to accommodate the Westbrook-Jokic two-man dynamic, was suddenly back in the starting five by default. The Nuggets were playing their opening-day starting lineup for the first time since Christmas.
Without Watson, Zeke Nnaji checked in at the four next to Jokic and eventually shared the second-unit frontcourt with Aaron Gordon. It was Nnaji’s first time on the court for six or more minutes since Nov. 10, 2024, and he capitalized with five blocks. The 24-year-old was one of Denver’s most impactful defenders, guarding Miles Bridges for a chunk of possessions and handling switches effectively. As Charlotte was threatening in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets extended their lead to seven twice in a row with Nnaji buckets at the rim assisted by Gordon.
Murray followed his 31-point double-double in Philadelphia with a more inefficient night. But he got going in the third quarter for 12 of his 20 points in an eight-minute stretch, one of the only periods of the game when Denver wasn’t defending.
Malone’s biggest pregame concern about the lowly Hornets was their offensive rebounding. They rank second in the NBA in second-chance points, and they scored 17 on Saturday.
“Their guards, they all crash,” Malone said. “So if we can find ways to limit them to one shot, then hopefully we can get our running game going.”
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.