‘It looked like who we’ve been:’ Nuggets score key win against Grizzlies

Apr 11, 2025, 11:21 PM

Denver Sports Analyst

DENVER — On the back of a big fourth-quarter run where Denver’s defense swarmed Memphis, the Nuggets picked up a huge 117-109 win against the Grizzlies, getting the Mile High City crew one step closer to a playoff berth.

Jamal Murray returned from a six-game absence due to a hamstring injury and made key plays down the stretch. Aaron Gordon lifted a heavy load to power the Nuggets. And Nikola Jokic put on for the city of Denver with yet another triple-double.

Every bit of effort was needed as the Nuggets made a season-worst five threes, while Memphis connected on 14 of their 43 attempts. Denver hadn’t won a game when connecting that few times from deep all season, but adjustments made by David Adelman in his second game leading the Nuggets spurred a strong second half.

“That was a playoff game,” Adelman said. “Those are playoff game kind of things where you’re not everything going your way, but you rely on your energy, togetherness, and stay in the game. Give yourself a chance… hell of a win.”

Only one game separated the Nuggets and the Grizzlies in the standings, and with two games left, either team could’ve ended up just about anywhere in the West. The momentum was pointing to Memphis for most of the night, but a 14-1 run to close where the Grizzlies didn’t hit a field goal for the final seven minutes did the trick.

“It looked like who we’ve been, we’re a team that’s won big games for a long time,” Adelman said. “We understand the DNA of that kind of game, and we have it. And those guys just stayed with it, so resilient. I’ve seen us win that game a lot. Just saying what the game stops. Eventually, your offense will come around… I’m never worried about that. We never have to worry about that. We’re going to score, but once we found our defensive intensity, rhythm, you can see a change, and it started to change, I thought the other third quarter. So really proud of the guys.”

Murray and Jokic worked the two-man game down the stretch, where the Blue Arrow connected on a few shots and threw Big Honey a beautiful set up. Joker tallied 26 points, secured 16 rebounds and tossed 12 assists in the contest, scoring 10 of those and throwing three of those helpers in the final nine minutes.

“Jamal, you could tell he was exhausted. He hasn’t played a long time,” Adelman said. “Jamal is so interesting. The harder it gets, the more tired he gets, the better he plays, as we all know. And to watch those guys play the two-man game at the end is I would buy a ticket to watch that. It’s beautiful. And they take their time. They take what’s there. It’s never forced. And the unselfishness of the other three guys just to get out of the way and stay flat and watch those guys play. It’s been working for a long time. When it gets really intense, it seems like they breathe really easy. So it’s fun to watch .”

So the Nuggets are back to who they are, just with a new leader in charge. And their three-time MVP officially clinched averaging a triple-double for the entire season, becoming the third player in NBA history to do so.

Denver’s final game of the season is on Sunday in Houston, with every Western Conference game tipping off at 1:30 mountain time. If the Nuggets win, they’ll get the four seed — if they lose anything from five to seven is on the table. So the Nuggets will be giving it their all to avoid the Play-In on Sunday.