Jamal Murray forces OT to buzzer, Nuggets earn first win in Toronto

TORONTO – When the Nuggets arrived in Canada with more pressure than the third game of a season should ever entail, they had a chance to put their poor start behind them in Denver.

Instead, they'll make it back through US customs and into Brooklyn, where they'll face off on Tuesday – albeit with unimaginably heightened spirits after a 127-125 overtime win over the Raptors on Monday night.

Jamal Murray, the hometown boy who received a warm welcome even after his troubles with the Canadian national team this summer, drove the baseline for a game-winning reverse layup with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, completing a 13: 3-run in the last two games minutes, 10 seconds. Murray was 4 of 15 for 12 points from the clutch basket.

The dramatic run began with a three-pointer from Christian Braun. It ended with an unorthodox strategy. The Nuggets avoided their first 0-3 start of Nikola Jokic's career and Michael Malone's tenure as coach by deliberately hoping for two points in a game in which they trailed by three points with 15 seconds left. Jokic scored on a post-up, then Denver sent Davion Mitchell back to the foul line after missing by half a pair. He did this again, giving the visitors a chance to force overtime without having to rely on their supposed Achilles heel, the 3-point shot.

This time, however, that wasn't her weakness. Embarrassed by their own failure to win in the paint, where they were supposed to have their greatest advantage, they dug a 15-point hole in the third quarter despite making most of their 3s. They finished the night 9 for 20 on the road, including a Jokic dagger that doubled the lead in overtime. He scored 40 points (on 18-for-27 shooting) for the second straight season after doing so three times throughout the 2023-24 season.

The second highest scorers in Denver were Braun and Murray with 17 points each.

The Nuggets again played from behind for most of the night. They shot 54% from the floor and 5 for 8 from beyond the arc in the first half and even got to the foul line twice as often as the hosts. But they still trailed 62-54 because Toronto outscored them 42-28 in the lane and scored 12 more field goals, a tally that Malone's team attributed in part to its 12 turnovers.

This time it wasn't just the bank. Denver's starting lineup was to blame, as the Raptors quickly increased their lead to 15 early in the second half. And it was to blame for Malone's early emergency timeout after the Raptors scored on their first six possessions of the game.

Malone's game-to-game adjustments continued. From the first to the second unit, it was the decision which player he chose to stagger with the second unit. Michael Porter Jr. replaced Murray in the lineup to “spread the floor and give opponents a different look,” he explained Monday before the game. He also mentioned that it would help Murray stay in rhythm better, referencing his own comment before the season that Murray's usual substitution pattern could be “chopped up.” The problem: Murray still shot 6 for 20 from the field in his last home game in Ontario, even when he made the most important try of the night.