Malone knows Denver was “lucky” to win in overtime
ORLANDO, FLA. » It’s better to be lucky than good, and the Nuggets were both here Wednesday night.
The Nuggets withstood a parade of 3-pointers, an awful miscommunication and a blatant missed call in overtime that should’ve awarded the Magic possession down just three points. Instead, the referees missed an out-of-bounds call with 23 seconds left and eventually awarded Jamal Murray two clinching free throws.
The Nuggets were up 121-118 when Murray tossed an inbounds pass to Nikola Jokic in the corner and then rolled to his right to receive a handoff. Video showed Murray’s left foot on the sideline prior to a Nikola Vucevic foul that sent the Nuggets’ point guard to the free throw line. Instead of Denver stretching the lead to five, the Magic could’ve easily exposed a perimeter defense that had already given up 20 3-pointers. Instead, the Nuggets survived for the 124-118 win, their seventh in a row and fifth consecutive on the road.
A pool report from a game official offered this explanation for the error: “An out of bounds may be reviewed if it is called or the officials have doubt as to whether the ball was out of bounds. It was never called out of bounds, and so there was no trigger. So it wasn’t a reviewable matter.”
It could’ve been reviewed had the officials seen it. The Amway crowd, sustained by video replay, saw Murray’s foot slide out.
Aside from that call, the Nuggets enjoyed a 37-8 free throw disparity that had the crowd sarcastically clapping once the Magic got their first free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
The favorable whistle, coupled with a blown defensive coverage that allowed Terrance Ross a game-tying 3-pointer to end regulation, is why Nuggets coach Michael Malone said his team was lucky to win. He wasn’t the only one. “We feel like we flew around a little bit (on defense), but we could’ve flown around a lot more,” said Monte Morris. “We definitely did get lucky. I don’t know how we won giving up 20 3’s. It’s crazy.”
Morris, who had 13 points on 6 for 7 shooting along with three assists, was a huge reason why the Nuggets won.
“We were able to kind of slip away with this one,” said Trey Lyles, whose 12 points boosted a second unit that has been thinned by injuries.
Not that they need to apologize for the win or their sevengame winning streak. It was only two games ago in Portland that an incorrect out of bounds call, coincidentally against Murray, made it harder for the Nuggets to win on the road.
The trickledown effect of injuries to Gary Harris (day-to-day), Will Barton, Isaiah Thomas and Jarred Vanderbilt was that Murray had to play 46 minutes and reserve Malik Beasley was on the floor for nearly 31.
Friday’s opponent, Charlotte, makes the fifth-most 3-pointers per game in the league, and another defensive effort like Wednesday’s might snap their winning streak at seven. Then again, the Nuggets keep digging deeper and deeper, uncovering new and unorthodox ways to win.
Footnote:
The Nuggets said Thursday that Barton continues to progress through his rehabillitation program following his right hip and core muscle surgery. He will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.