The Denver Nuggets failed to score in overtime on Sunday as they lost to Indiana despite leading for the entire first half. Indiana dominated the Nuggets down low – 62 to 40 in the paint – and Victor Oladipo dropped 47 points on 15-28 shooting as the Pacers stole a 126-116 victory from the Nuggets.
The ball was hopping and the shots were falling early as Denver blitzed the Pacers in the opening quarter. The Nuggets hit their first six field goals of the game, including three bombs from deep, to jump out to an early 16-4 lead before Nate McMillan called his first time out of the game.
Wilson Chandler has struggled offensively for most of this young season but he was scorching hot to start the game. Chandler hit his first three shots, including two three pointers and one sweet alley oop slam. He connected on all three of his shots from deep on his way to a 14 point quarter—he added four rebounds as well.
The Nuggets connected on six of their ten attempts from three in the first quarter and they coupled that with a tenacious effort on the defensive end. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the Nuggets held the home team to less than 25 points. Denver led 35-22 after the first 12 minutes.
Denver stretched their lead to as large as 19 to start the quarter but, unfortunately, the defensive effort and lights out shooting wouldn’t last long. Again, the Nuggets launched 10 three pointers in the quarter, but this time only three of them fell. That 19 point lead evaporated as the Pacers engineered a 25-11 run to close the half. The Pacers dropped a 37 frame in the second and the Nuggets led just 66-59 at the half.
Halftime didn’t cool the Pacers off in the slightest. Victor Oladipo, who was the best player on the floor all night long, took over in the third. The former Hoosier dropped 10 points on 4-8 shooting to eclipse the 30 mark after just three quarters. Myles Turner injected a shot of energy into Pacers as well helping Indiana to take control on the glass.
Indiana adjusted on the defensive end as well. They employed more double-teams and aggressive defense on a turnover prone Nuggets squad. The move had the desired effect as the Nuggets looked disjointed and panicked on the offensive end. Denver turned it over five times and the Pacers won the quarter 31-22. Indiana led by 2 as the game entered the fourth quarter.
The game was in danger of slipping away in the fourth and the Nuggets needed someone to step up and wrestle back control of a still winnable game on the road. Trey Lyles answered the call. Lyles scored nine of his career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. With 24 seconds remaining, the Pacers had the ball down by two. Oladipo drove to the rim, Faried rotated for the help defense and created a miss but Thadeous Young tied the game on a put back dunk. The Nuggets had five seconds remaining to find a game winner, but Barton missed on a 19-foot step back. Free basketball for the folks at Bankers life field house.
After a riveting four quarters of basketball, overtime was anti-climatic. The Nuggets managed just two points in overtime as Indiana stole an important win right out from underneath a depleted Nuggets team. Denver drops to 14-12 on the year and 4-10 on the road. They’ll take on the Detroit Pistons at the Palace on Tuesday night.
