The Denver Nuggets survived a late rally without superstar center Nikola Jokic, beating the Toronto Raptors 106-103 on Wednesday evening.
Nuggets came in 13-23 over the last five seasons when Jokic was not in the lineup, but now a different scenario as Peyton Watson dropped 24 points and Jamal Murray contributed 21 to secure their win.
The Raptors thought they had sent the game to overtime when Brandon Ingram banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the basket was overturned after a video review showed the ball was still on his fingers when time expired.
Toronto’s late chance came after Denver’s Bruce Brown missed a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining.
Aside from Jokic being sidelined, the Nuggets were already shorthanded in this matchup, having the absence of other starters, including Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Cam Johnson.
It just got worse when backup center Jonas Valanciunas limped off because of a strained right calf with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
Valanciunas finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes against his former team.
Raptors’ DaRon Holmes scored 11 points, and Jalen Pickett had 10 as Denver won its fifth straight meeting.
Ingram finished with 30 points for Toronto, missing two of seven attempts from distance, while Immanuel Quickley added 22, and Scottie Barnes had his eighth career triple-double of 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, second in three games.
RJ Barrett also had 17 points, but missed a late three-point attempt that would have tied the score.
Denver will be in Cleveland on Friday, while Toronto will host Atlanta on Saturday.
