Denver Nuggets defeat Toronto Raptors 123–90
The Denver Nuggets stepped up their defensive intensity to hand the Toronto Raptors a 123–90 defeat at the Pepsi Centre in Colorado on Monday night. The Nuggets stifled their opponents with their gritty defence and forced the Raptors into committing 21 turnovers.
It was total domination by the Denver Nuggets, as they outplayed the Raptors in all departments of the game. With seven of their players scoring in double figures, the Nuggets rushed the paint area for easy scoring opportunities, and dominated the Raptors
in scoring in-the-paint with a 60-30 advantage.
With the Raptors readily turning the ball over, the Nuggets capitalised on the opportunity to amass a 28-8 advantage in fast-break points, while also dominating the rebounding battle at both ends of the floor.
Denver came out aggressively from the start, as they hammered the Raptors in the first quarter to take a 36–23 lead into the second. The game was never in doubt as Toronto struggled to slow down the opposition. The Nuggets held a 41-point lead at one stage
in the game.
The second quarter was almost a mirror-image of the first, with the Nuggets continuing their outright domination of the Raptors. They scored another 36 points in the quarter and held the Raptors to just 21 points. Danilo Galinari’s layup at the half time
buzzer gave the Nuggets a 72-44 lead.
The Raptors played better in the third period as they tried to match the Denver Nuggets shot-for-shot. DeMar DeRozan’s layup in the eighth minute of the third quarter cut Denver’s lead to 84–63.
Ty Lawson scored 23 points and handed out eight assists for the Nuggets while going 7-for-10 from the field. J.R. Smith was phenomenal on the night and almost posted a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The start of the fourth quarter saw the Toronto Raptors totally collapse, as the Nuggets went on to seal a comfortable home win and snapped a two-game losing streak. Al Harrington had a spirited performance off the bench for the Nuggets, contributing 15
points, six rebounds and six assists.
Meanwhile, Andrea Bargnani top-scored with 20 points and shot an efficient 8-for-14 from the field for the Toronto Raptors.
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