addByline("Chris Gehring", "WashingtonWizards.com", "cdgehring");
Just as March is the time for college hoops to heat up, it’s also the time where the top teams in the NBA separate themselves in time for the postseason. The Nuggets made it clear that’s where they’re headed on Thursday night in D.C. It wasn’t for lack of effort on the Wizards’ part, as Washington took Denver down to the wire with a spirited effort. In the end, eight Nuggets reached double-figures (five scored exactly 15 points) as they pushed their winning streak to five with a 113-108 victory.
No Denver player scored more than 15 points, but the list was long enough for the Nuggets not to need a dominant leader in the scoring column on the night. Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap, Torrey Craig, and Nikola Jokic (11 assists, six rebounds) all reached the plateau as Denver shot a solid 52.9% from the field and hit 14 3-pointers (46.7%) en route to a victory. The Wizards only managed to hit eight from deep, a discrepancy that wound up making a big difference.
Washington stayed with the West’s co-leaders all night by competing everywhere, even down in the paint where Denver boasts an All-Star in Jokic. The Wizards nearly drew even in rebounding, and only lost by two points in the paint. Bradley Beal’s 25 points led the way for Washington, while Thomas Bryant added 22 (eight rebounds), Bobby Portis scored 18 (eight rebounds), and Tomas Satoransky tallied 16 to go with 10 assists.
The Wizards built an early eight-point lead in the first quarter, where rookie and 2018 first round pick Troy Brown Jr. (13 points, five rebounds) made his first career NBA start in place of an injured Trevor Ariza (groin). Denver slowly battled back on the shoulders of Harris and Jokic, re-taking the lead at the 4:06 mark.
The Nuggets first took control in the second, using a 14-4 run towards the end of the half to gain their first real space in the game. Denver took an eight-point lead into the half on the strength of their 3-point shooting and overall efficiency inside.
A hot start to the second half quickly got the Nuggets’ lead to 14 with a quick 6-0 run to start the third, but the Wizards played some of their best basketball of the night later in the frame. Brown Jr., Bryant and Beal sparked a massive 26-5 run that turned an 11-point deficit into a 10-point Washington lead late in the third. But as they had done all night, the Nuggets responded with a 10-0 run to close the quarter and go to the fourth tied at 85.
Craig was the engineer of Denver’s 15-5 run at the outset of the fourth that gave the Nuggets just enough to withstand a late push from Washington. He recorded seven points and a steal on the run that gave Denver a 10-point lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. A steal and slam from Beal at the 1:53 mark gave the Wizards an opening, cutting Denver’s lead to just two, but five unanswered points from a Murray bucket and Barton 3-pointer sealed put the game away.
“Any time you lose, it's disappointing," said head coach Scott Brooks. "We put a lot of work into it, the players do the same and you want to get rewarded with great effort. A couple of breaks here and there, we had a good look to tie the game, then we had another chance--the ball, there was a funny bounce on that rebound on the missed free throw. So a couple of things we could have made it interesting and play another overtime game. Great effort by all of our guys.”
One more home game is on the docket before the Wizards embark on a four-game trip out West next week. They’ll take on the Heat in D.C. on Saturday night, with tip-off schedule for 7:00 P.M.