A strong performance from the Denver Nuggets bench lead the team to a 103-89 victory over the Orlando Magic. The Victory broke the Nuggets seven game road losing streak.
The Nuggets entered Friday night’s game with Orlando determined to reverse their fortunes on the road. Slow starts in the first quarter have haunted this team and in the pre-game broadcast, Malik Beasley noted that they need to be the ones to “throw the first punch.” But Denver took another one across the jaw to open things up at the Amway center.
A different looking starting five of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Wilson Chandler and Mason Plumlee looked a bit disjointed. The first 8 minutes included missed looks to open players in the paint, one-on-three drives from Will Barton and virtually no weak side action for Denver’s offense.
The starters hit just four of their first 10 shots, turned it over three times and were trailing 17-9 by the time Malik Beasley checked in for the first substitution of the game. The Nuggets did go on 8-2 scoring run to close the quarter, but they still trailed a shorthanded Magic team 25-14 at the end of the quarter. It marked the 10th consecutive road game in which Denver was outscored in the first 12 minutes of play.
The Nuggets were able to break free from their usual “road” script though. For most of these losses the first substitution of the night marked a downhill slide in which the wheels fell off of a once promising start to the game. But Friday night’s first substitution was Malik Beasley — and he came ready to play.
Beasley finished the half with 9 points on 4-5 from the field, he also grabbed three boards and added an assist. The former Florida State Seminole lit a fire under this team with a superb defensive effort and would finish a team high +9 in the first half.
Beasley galvanized his fellow bench players. A four man second unit of Beasley, Kenneth Faried, Trey Lyles and Emmanuel Mudiay played a combined 59 first half minutes and outscored Orlando’s bench 33-6. Faried scored 11 points on a perfect 5/5 from the field while corralling 5 rebounds. Mudiay tacked on 11 points of his own—including a buzzer beating lay up to end the half to give Denver their first lead of the game at 49-48. Will Barton played for virtually the entire first half and was the lone starter to hit multiple field goals. He led the Nuggets with 12 first half points.
After scoring just 2 points in the first half, Gary Harris’ game sprung to life in the third. This time it was Harris’ turn to galvanize his running mates. The former Spartan hit his first four shots of the quarter and was virtually everywhere defensively. The rest of the starters followed suit, hitting 11 of their first 14 shots, and turning in a much better defense effort. Denver held the Magic to 22 third quarter points and entered the fourth with an 11 point lead.
The Nuggets kept their foot on the gas in the fourth and closed out strong. After trailing by 13 in the first quarter, Denver stretched their own lead to as high as 17 as they picked up their first road win since October 29.
Faried finished with a 20 point double-double of the bench while Mudiay added 18 points of his own as the Nuggets finished the game with an incredible 53 to 16 advantage in bench points. Jamal Murray left the game early to have his right ankle examined. He would not return.
The Nuggets improve to 14-11 on the year and 4-9 on the road. They’ll travel to Indiana on Saturday for a Sunday afternoon matchup with Victor Oladipo’s Indiana Pacers.
