Denver Nuggets have had bad luck at the buzzer this season | NBA Insider

Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets:

Outside of one very memorable moment, buzzer beaters haven’t been very kind to the Nuggets this season.

Most in Denver will remember Nikola Jokic’s bank shot that beat Golden State from a couple of steps inside of half court in San Francisco on Jan. 4, but that’s the team’s only win in three games decided by buckets in the final seconds.

The Mavericks' Kyrie Irving’s masterful half hook shot, half floater over Jokic defeated Denver on Sunday in Dallas.

“I saw Kyrie Irving make a running, left-handed hook from the elbow. We’ve been on both sides of it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Sunday’s game. “We’ve won games at the buzzer, and now we’ve lost a game at the buzzer. Give them credit. Give Kyrie credit. Obviously, there’s a lot of things down the stretch that we could’ve done better.”

Before that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drove and got to a step-back jumper he made over Peyton Watson’s outstretched arm to give the Thunder a one-point win on Dec. 16. It was too early to know it at the time, but that shot looms large in the Western Conference standings. The Thunder are a half game ahead of the Nuggets heading into Tuesday’s game in Minnesota, and that shot helped the Thunder win the season series against Denver, 3-1, and secure the tiebreaker should the teams finish the regular season with matching records.

There have also been a few near misses along the way that could’ve altered Denver’s record. On Nov. 8, the first meeting between the Warriors and Nuggets this season, Klay Thompson had a chance to force overtime but was unable to get his shot off before the buzzer. A few days later, Jokic had a heave from three-quarters that could’ve tied the game in Houston but saved his dramatic bucket for a bigger game.

Since the start of 2024, two more late shots that could’ve changed the outcome didn’t drop for Denver, while Jayson Tatum’s miss in the final seconds of the Jan. 19 game in Boston gave the Nuggets a big road win.

Jamal Murray missed a tying shot in Orlando on Jan. 5. Denver took a timeout with 10 seconds left, and Murray started his move with five seconds to go. He created space from one defender but attracted two more and had to double-pump his floater that banked off the glass and off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Then on March 5, the Nuggets took a timeout, with four seconds left, to draw up a play to beat the Suns. Jokic caught the in-bounds pass on the left wing, faked a handoff to Murray and drove to the baseline for a running floater that bounced off the front of the rim. Phoenix went on to win in overtime.

With a little more buzzer-beater luck, the Nuggets could easily be on a 13-game winning streak since the All-Star break.

The NBA couldn’t wait to get Victor Wembanyama a game back in Paris, but it should’ve.

The expected Rookie of the Year and the Spurs said Sunday they plan to be a part of the NBA’s games in Paris next season. With the Summer Olympics happening in France this summer, the NBA should’ve tried to get Giannis Antetokounmpo a game in Athens, Nikola Jokic a game in Belgrade or Luka Doncic a game in Ljubljana. That’s probably a bit too imaginative, though. The only cities to host regular-season games as part of the NBA Global Games series in the last 20 years are Paris, London and Mexico City.

With any sort of luck, Wemby is going to be the face of the NBA soon enough, but he’s not it now. Getting the Spurs a game abroad should’ve waited for a few seasons while the NBA prioritized its current crop of European superstars.

Apparently, the best the Nuggets can do is a couple of preseason games against the Celtics in Abu Dhabi. That’s not good enough.

“Sometimes I spend just an hour straight just working on straight left-hand stuff,” Kyrie Irving said after his game-winner Sunday. “Just being a small guard, you've just got to have a multitude of finishes. And that's something I've been working on since I was a kid.”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone tipped his cap to Irving’s buzzer beater but wasn’t happy with his team’s effort on the glass after Dallas won the rebounding battle 60-37.

“I guess it was a fluke day. I mean, I can’t remember the last time we got outrebounded by 22,” Malone said after Dallas turned 22 offensive rebounds into a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points.

From Tyler King’s profile of Colorado State coach Niko Medved and Paul Klee’s column on Cody Williams, my colleagues have everything local fans need to get geared up for the NCAA Tournament. Those looking for more NBA coverage should check out Julia Poe’s feature on Coby White for the Chicago Tribune.

Calvin Booth’s front office doesn’t have a first-round pick next season, adding importance to getting this year’s picks right. Here are five players, three likely first-round options and a couple of projected second rounders, in the NCAA Tournament worth keeping an eye on for Nuggets fans:

The Nuggets might need some good fortune to have a chance to draft the 19-year-old center with their original first-round pick. If Denver has the chance to grab the 7-footer, his raw athleticism would be hard to pass up for a franchise that’s still looking for a long-term answer at back-up center. The Bears play Colgate on Friday morning.

While Missi is more in the mold of DeAndre Jordan, the 6-foot-11 center is more like Zeke Nnaji. The 21-year-old is more likely to be available when the Nuggets pick later in the first round given his age and lower upside, but his passing and touch around the rim should have him off the board before the second round starts. Marquette’s first NCAA Tournament game is against Western Kentucky is on Friday at noon.

Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope both have player options for next season. The one-and-done Blue Devil would provide some cover should either rotation guard opt for free agency. The 20-year-old has the ballhandling skills to play the point and the catch-and-shoot ability to slide to the two, though his 6-foot-3 frame makes the one his more likely position. Duke is matched up with Vermont in the first round Friday night.

Denver could use a little more defensive bite among its back-up guards. That makes the 21-year-old guard appealing as a potential second rounder. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 but managed to be the Big 12’s best defensive player, something that helped Houston earn a No. 1 seed. The Cougars start their hopeful title run against Longwood on Friday night.

Bad news for those thinking they would make it out without a Bluejays mention. At 23, Scheierman’s ancient by NBA draft standards, and he doesn’t have eye-opening explosiveness that helps players rise up draft boards. What the 6-foot-7 wing has is a lethal left-handed jumper, terrific feel for the game and solid positional ball handling and passing. Creighton gets Akron on Thursday morning.