Murray’s 31 and Jokić’s late control lift Denver past Toronto

Denver doesn’t blow Toronto off the floor — it survives it.

The Nuggets spend most of the night trading haymakers with a Raptors team that keeps landing counterpunches, but when the game tightens in the final minutes, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić make sure the home crowd leaves happy. Denver’s 121-115 win is built on shot-making under pressure, a few timely stops, and just enough composure to hold off a Toronto group that never lets the margin get comfortable.

Toronto actually opens with the sharper punch. The Raptors score the first 11 points of the game, capped by R. Barrett’s free throws after Denver is stuck at 2-0. That early burst sets the tone for a first half full of momentum swings, with the Nuggets answering and Toronto punching back. The visitors carry a 30-27 lead after one and keep extending their advantage in the second quarter, eventually pushing it to 11 before Denver’s response begins to form. The home team’s biggest second-quarter swing comes when C. Johnson finishes a cutting dunk off a Nikola Jokić feed as part of a 14-point run that flips a 42-47 deficit into a 54-49 lead. That sequence matters because it shows exactly how Denver wants to play: Jokić drawing eyes, slipping passes, and turning the floor into a layup line. Toronto, though, doesn’t fold. The Raptors keep the game choppy and enter halftime down only 57-53.

The third quarter is where Toronto threatens to take control. Jakob Poeltl keeps carving out space inside, and his running dunk helps fuel an 11-0 stretch that turns a 67-69 game into a 77-67 Toronto lead. The Raptors are physical, they’re getting paint touches, and they’re making Denver chase. But the Nuggets answer the way contenders do — with one clean shot after another. Murray, who looks comfortable all night, drills a 28-foot pull-up three as Denver chips away, and the late-third surge trims the gap to 94-85 by the start of the fourth. Toronto still has the lead, but Denver has found its rhythm, and now the game has shifted from a Raptors control job to a full-on closeout test.

Then the final period turns into a track meet with no margin for error. Aaron Gordon opens Denver’s key fourth-quarter burst with a 26-foot three to pull the Nuggets from behind and ignite a 9-0 run that flips 98-101 into 107-101. That’s the turning point — the shot that changes the temperature of the building and forces Toronto into a desperation chase. But the Raptors keep coming. Brandon Ingram answers with a 25-foot three at 3:14, Jokic counters with a cutting layup at 3:06, and Scottie Barnes keeps Toronto within striking distance with a driving hook, a pullup jumper, and a putback in the final two minutes. The sequence feels like every possession matters — because it does. Murray gets downhill for a driving finger roll at 2:26, Gordon sneaks in another easy finish off Murray’s feed, and Jokić later buries a 10-foot driving floater with 44.9 seconds left to make it 117-115. Denver then gets the stop it needs, highlighted by Gordon’s block at 33.8 seconds, and the Nuggets finally close the door.

Murray’s 31 points, five rebounds, and six assists headline the box score, but this was also one of those steady Jokić games where the stat line only tells part of the story: 22 points, eight boards, nine assists, and constant pressure on Toronto’s defense. Gordon adds 15 and the defensive play that helps seal it, while Tim Hardaway Jr. gives Denver a huge shooting night with 23 points and seven threes. On the other side, Toronto can take a lot from Jakob Poeltl’s 23 and 11, Barnes’ late-game activity, and Ingram’s shot-making, but the Raptors simply couldn’t get enough stops in the closing stretch.

For Denver, this is the kind of win that matters in the standings and in the tone it sets. It’s not flashy, but it’s a reminder that when games get tight, the Nuggets still trust their stars to run the table late. For Toronto, the loss stings because it was there — within one possession multiple times in the fourth — and yet the Raptors showed enough offensive resistance to suggest they can hang with playoff-caliber pressure if they clean up the finishing moments.