The Denver Nuggets defeated the Toronto Raptors by a score of 113-104 on Wednesday night. Nikola Jokic contributed 31 points and 15 rebounds to the Nuggets’ victory, which allowed them to withstand a late comeback effort by the Raptors.

For Denver (19-10), which has won five of its past six games, Jamal Murray, who hails from Canada, contributed 20 points to the roster.

After being recognised for his performance on the national team, Murray, who hails from Kitchener, Ontario, received a standing ovation during the pre-game introductions and during the timeout in the second quarter.

For Toronto (11-16), which had a record of 2-6 in December, Scottie Barnes scored a combined 30 points, which was the team’s highest total.

Both Pascal Siakam and Precious Achiuwa produced 18 points, with Precious Achiuwa contributing 13 points.

Beginning in October 2016, the Raptors have won five of their previous seven home games versus the Nuggets. As of Wednesday, the Raptors have won five of those games.

With four minutes and twenty-four seconds remaining, Caldwell-Pope and Murray teamed for a seven-point run that gave Denver its first lead, 18-13, and they never looked back. At the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets had a lead of 29-20 over their opponents.

The Raptors were unable to get out of their own way during the second period of the game. At the beginning of the first six minutes and forty-eight seconds of the game, Toronto committed six turnovers, which allowed Denver’s second and first units to score eight points off of giveaways and take a 45-33 lead.

A jumper made by Michael Porter Jr. with thirty seconds left in the game gave the Nuggets their highest lead of 19 points, and they finished the half with a 61-44 advantage over their opponents.

The Raptors were able to draw within 14 points thanks to a basket made by Siakam with 5 minutes and one second remaining, but they were unable to earn stops at the same rate that they scored in the third quarter.

With 2 minutes and 27 seconds remaining, Jokic made a layup and then a free throw, which gave Denver an 85-64 advantage. This helped to calm the fans at Scotiabank Arena, and the Nuggets closed the frame with a 90-75 lead.

During the fourth quarter, Toronto was able to find its rhythm. A three-pointer made by Dennis Schroder with 5 minutes and 20 seconds left in the game brought the Raptors to within five points, 99-94, marking their closest deficit since the first period.

On the other hand, Denver responded with a 9-2 run that was capped off by a Jokic hook shot with 3:24 remaining, which prompted Toronto to call a timeout.

Jokic responded with a three-pointer that just beat the shot clock with one minute and one second remaining, but the Raptors were unable to bring the margin down to nine points from that point on. Barnes scored four consecutive points to make the score 108-100.

PERSONAL IDENTITY

When it comes to the facilitator part of Barnes’ development, the head coach of the Raptors, Darko Rajakovic, sees similarities between Barnes and Jokic.

The statement that Rajakovic made prior to the game was as follows: “I believe that there are characteristics that Scottie is very capable of doing, particularly from the elbow area and playmaking.” “But in addition to that, Scottie is doing a lot of stuff when he is catching the ball as a roller to the basket, and he is also doing it, like Jokic is going to run some pick and rolls with him on the ball, Scottie is becoming more and more involved in those decisions as well.