It’s really difficult to win games without Nikola Jokic, but not impossible.

What’s even more difficult is winning games without Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Cam Johnson, AND when Jonas Valanciunas goes down during the middle of the third quarter.

The Nuggets didn’t care. They dug deep and won anyway in a 106-103 rock fight against the Toronto Raptors. It wasn’t pretty. The Nuggets shot 29% from three while the Raptors shot 27%. Still, it was available for the Nuggets to take, and they ran out of Toronto with a gutsy, gutsy win.

Peyton Watson led the way for the Nuggets with 24 points, helping keep Denver ahead with 18 points in the first half alone. With Jamal Murray being doubled consistently, Watson was tasked with attacking downhill and finding ways to get points on the board. He did exactly that by going at players like RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram, stepping up in a major way.

The aforementioned Murray saw a lot of bodies throughout the win, scoring 21 points on just 6-of-18 from the field. Murray rolled his ankle at one point and appeared labored throughout the game, but he stuck it out, also generating seven rebounds and six assists while committing just two turnovers in 38 minutes. Denver’s ability to not hurt their own chances was big, committing just 10 turnovers on the evening.

Fortunately, Murray saved his last two points for a very critical bucket when the Nuggets were trying to maintain their lead in the closing seconds.

Valanciunas was well on the way to leading Denver in production with 17 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in his 23 minutes. He was doing a nice job against the undersized Raptors and stayed efficient in his minutes despite the constant pressure from Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles. Unfortunately, he sustained a calf injury midway through the third quarter and hobbled his way to the bench, ending his night prematurely.

That led to the biggest surprise of the game: rookie DaRon Holmes II was Denver’s eighth man in their eight-man rotation tonight and played pretty well. It was his first extended minutes of the year in a game that mattered, and he handled himself well on both ends of the floor despite the pressure. Holmes played 22 minutes, finishing with an efficient 11 points, three rebounds, and a block while guarding Barnes and others reasonably well in the frontcourt.

The Nuggets of course got other contributions throughout the night: Jalen Pickett started and gave Denver 10 early points to help get them off the ground. Tim Hardaway Jr. came off the bench and hit timely shots despite scoring relatively inefficiently. Bruce Brown played well on both ends of the floor and scrambled around to make plenty of plays (until missing the final two free throws nearly burned Denver’s work when Ingram made a three-pointer just after the buzzer.

Spencer Jones also deserves an extensive amount of credit for his all-around efforts. He made clutch free throws, grabbed offensive rebounds, and played a smart game overall. He also hustled for 38 minutes defensively and matched the Raptors well with his size and physicality.

Overall, the Nuggets held on by a thread. If the game had gone for 49 minutes, they probably lose. Fortunately, they’re capped at 48 for a reason, and the Nuggets gave everything they had to win it in regulation.

Doing so after an ugly loss in Miami following Jokic’s injury was very, very impressive. Nobody would’ve blamed Denver for faltering in Toronto tonight. Nobody would’ve given it a second thought, losing to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference while down four starters and losing Valanciunas midway through the game.

And yet, the Nuggets fought, scratched, and clawed their way to a victory. It’s a testament to their culture, their willingness to step up and do what’s needed when the moment calls for it. Jokic can make it easy to forget that he’s playing with some really good, relatively self-reliant players who often sacrifice their games to augment what Jokic does best. Obviously, Jokic is the best player in the world and guys are happy to sacrifice for a player that makes their lives as easy as he often does.

But this is the NBA. These are NBA players. They may not win another game on this road trip, or they could win several. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but Denver finding a way to step up and earn a win without so many talented pieces is a testament to everyone on that road trip. Players, coaches, staff, everyone involved to get the team ready.

Not a bad way to wrap up 2025.