Denver, CO

Recap: The Denver Nuggets overcome a 23-point deficit, drop the Atlanta Hawks 134-133 – Denver Stiffs

Published

1 month ago

December 6, 2025

Recap: The Denver Nuggets overcome a 23-point deficit, drop the Atlanta Hawks 134-133 – Denver Stiffs

The Denver Nuggets looked terrible early, falling behind by as many as 23 points before rallying with an 80-point second half to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 134-133. Nikola Jokic was terrible in the first half, going 2-for-13 from the field but rallied to put up 40 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists on 50% shooting. Jamal Murray was clutch, leading much of a 20-0 rally with Jokic on the bench in the fourth quarter and putting up 23 points with 12 assists and 5 boards. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown combined for 30 points, and Cam Johnson had 16 as Denver put just enough on the scoreboard to get the win.

For the Hawks, Jalen Johnson had a triple-double in the first half and finished with a monster 21 point / 18 rebound / 16 assist night, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker let the team with 30 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 25 in 20 minutes. Even with 15 points on 5 threes from Vit Krejci, the Hawks just couldn’t stop Denver in the second half as the Nuggets paid back Atlanta’s hot first-half shooting with a half of their own and completed the third-largest comeback in Nuggets history.

Game Flow

Dyson Daniels opened the scoring at the rim for Atlanta and Onyeka Okongwu buried a triple, while Cam Johnson missed a pair of jumpers for Denver. Denver’s defense forced a 24-second violation and Jokic finished at the rim, then Cam got a steal and transition layup. Jokic got a rebound on a missed Cam three and turned it into a Peyton Watson dunk, but Atlanta hit a pair of threes in response. Jamal answered with one of his own, then traded layups with Nickeil Alexander-Walker and it was 13-11 Atlanta early. The Hawks added a pair of rim finishes to their early three point shooting and Denver had to regroup with a timeout. Jamal made a Jokic-assisted layup but Zaccharie Risacher had a layup of his own. Atlanta hit two more threes, on absolute fire from the field, while Nikola Jokic made a hot but missed three others. The Nuggets took another timeout down 29-15 to try to get it right on both ends. Tim Hardaway Jr. finally made Denver’s second deep shot of the night (against 6 early misses so far), but Vit Krejci hit yet another 3 for the Hawks. Atlanta went 16-for-21 in the first quarter, blowing the doors off while Denver went 10-for-28. Jokic had his shot blocked in the final seconds by Kristaps Porzingis and Denver trailed 41-23 at the end of a dismal quarter,

Hardaway made three free throws for Denver but Krejci had another deep make for Atlanta. Zeke Nnaji had a paint bucket, Krejci made another 3, and Bruce Brown answered with a transition finish. Okongwu and Jonas Valanciunas exchanged layups, Brown got a layup for Denver and Jalen Johnson traded buckets with Big Val. But unfortunately Krejci and NAW both made threes for the Hawks to put Atlanta up 21 at 57-38. Denver had a couple of bad turnovers under the basket, but Peyton Watson got a nice cut and finished a Jokic pass. Walker scored right back on them though as Denver just didn’t have the hustle or the shot-making to get close. Jamal got a steal then immediately turned it back over to give Atlanta a 23 point lead. Jokic was ice cold from everywhere, going 2-for-13 in the half and 0-for-6 from deep, and that caused big problems for the Nuggets. Spencer Jones had a paint finish, Watson hit a 3, and Jokic got himself to the line at least to make some from the charity stripe. At halftime Denver still trailed 73-54 though.

Jokic started the third quarter scoring inside which was nice to see, getting his third bucket of the game on a drive. The teams exchanged free throws, then Jokic finished a traditional 3-point play and Cam Johnson hit a 3 and the lead was cut to 11 after a 10-2 Denver run. The Nuggets came out of a Hawks timeout with a full court press, but Jalen Johnson got to the line anyway. Jokic had a great roll to the basket for a finish, then in transition Murray finished to cut it to single digits. Jamal buried an open three, Cam had a transition dunk and it was a 17-22 run and the Hawks lead was down to 77-73 just over 3 minutes into the 3rd. Jokic had another nice paint finish but Risacher had a couple of good buckets sandwiching a Watson dunk. Spencer Jones made free throws, Jalen Johnson had an Atlanta bucket, and Jokic traded paint buckets with Risacher. Jokic finally made a three-pointer for 14 points in the quarter so far, Jones hit a long two, but Daniels made a pair of buckets at the rim to keep Atlanta’s lead at 5. Jokic and Porzingis traded jumpers, then Jokic went at Porzingis to get to the line. Kristaps made a three, Watson airballed a floater, but both teams looked a little tired after that surge and exchanged missed and turnovers for a bit. Luke Kennard made a pair of free throws, Tim Hardaway Jr hit a Jokic-assisted three, but Vit Krejci answered with one in the final seconds to put Atlanta up 103-94 after 3.

Hardaway and Mouhamed Gueye traded threes to open the 4th. Cam Johnson added one of his own for Denver, but then missed a pullup the next time down. Jamal Murray and Cam Johnson hit two more threes to tie the game at 106 and force a timeout. Denver’s defense kept being stout early in the quarter as Big Val had a one-handed driving dunk and Jamal made a 15-foot pullup after a Hawks turnover and hit his free throw to boot. Bruce Brown hit a 3 to push the lead to 8, then THJ buried another on a 20-0 run for Denver. Porzingis finally stopped the run with a 3 of his own, but Cam hit another Denver three. NAW finished a layup through contact as Jokic came back in up 8 at 120-112. Murray buried a 3 off a Jokic handoff, but then both Watson and Jokic missed threes. Porzingis made free throws, Jokic finished at the rim and Porzingis came back at him from deep as did NAW to cut it to 5. Jokic banked in a shot over Kristaps, Jalen Johnson finished a drive down the lane then got a steal and finish on a bad Murray pass, but Jokic came right back with a reverse layup. NAW buried a 3 to cut it to a two-point deficit for Atlanta, Jokic hit another paint bucket, and Jalen Johnson hit a 16-footer to bring it back to just a one-bucket game with under a minute to go. Cam Johnson missed a 3, Kristaps turned the ball over as Jamal Murray got the steal and it led to two made Jokic free throws. Walker made a pair of free throws for Atlanta to cut it back to 2. The final possession had a near-Denver steal, a block by Jamal on Walker, NAW takes the 2 and Jokic got it to Jamal to run the clock out and rip this victory away 134-133 over Atlanta.

Final Thoughts

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times. The first half was as ugly as anything Denver had put together all year. Jalen Johnson had a triple-double at halftime, as Denver provided no resistance whatsoever. The Hawks shot 59% from the field in the first half, 54% from three. Vit Krejci was 4-of-5 from deep in the first 2 frames. If you’re going to give up career-best shooting numbers from everywhere on the court you are going to lose – most nights.

But this was not most nights. Jamal Murray had 12 assists in the second half, made four huge threes in the game and finished with three great defensive plays on the final possession for Atlanta alone, then finished by getting open for the long Jokic pass to ice it. Nikola Jokic put up 30 second half points, and dominated that second half with vision and aggression. Jokic said after the game that this team never gives up, and you could see from the first possession out of the break that they were more serious. This team has to find ways to be serious on defense, to get the stops that allow their offense to flourish. It wasn’t a great defensive showing even after halftime, with Denver still giving up 30 points in both the third and fourth quarters. Their offense was otherworldy though, and they got enough stops in flurries in the second half to create two big runs, one at the beginning of each quarter, that let the offense pay off. Trading blows doesn’t create momentum. Finding those stops was crucial.

Coach David Adelman said at halftime they essentially only talked about how they had 3 total fouls in the first half, which was a symptom of not playing hard enough on defense. “We have to have these defensive segments where we flip the game,” he said in the post-game presser, and that’s really what this all-world offense needs. The Nuggets don’t have the personnel and depth right now to consistently get stops throughout the game without Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. But enough defense from either the bench or the starters can really jumpstart the offensive pieces, which they DO have. Jamal and Jokic were terrific as expected, but Cam Johnson took some nice Murray feeds and finished the play. Hardaway and Brown used the screens and got their scores. It’s not about getting every stop, it’s about getting the right stops and then taking advantage. Denver stopped turning the ball over in the second half (only 4 in the final two frames) and that combined with their defensive stints forced the difference and led to the giant comeback.

The heart of a champion still beats inside that Denver uniform – now they just need to harness that realization at home instead of just on the road. With a couple more road games still to go, though, hopefully the road winning streak can continue the rest of the week!

Source link

Click to comment

Denver, CO

Broncos designate LB Drew Sanders for return from injured reserve

Published

10 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Broncos designate LB Drew Sanders for return from injured reserve

Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders was back on the practice field Saturday for the first time in 5 1/2 months. Denver designated Sanders to return from injured reserve. He had last practiced July 26 in training camp, when he suffered a torn ligament in his foot and then had surgery. The Broncos did not put Sanders […]

Source link

Denver, CO

Broncos offensive line is the engine that drives offense

Published

23 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Broncos offensive line is the engine that drives offense

I’ve been covering the Denver Broncos for his entire career and I remember writing up some pretty harsh criticism of his play early on — especially in regards to holding penalties. I recall at one point he was committing holding penalties at a record-breaking rate. He was so far above the rest of the field that he’d break charts if anyone tried to chart it. The best part of that saga is that he never let the outside noise (from me and many others) get to him. He worked on his craft and he got better. And then got even better to the point where it is pretty clear that he is one of the best left tackles in all of football. He is going to go down as one of the best tackles in franchise history too when its all said and done. It’s a great comeback story.

All that said, he wasn’t the only one of the Broncos players on that offensive line to make an impact with guard Quinn Meinerz also being named a PFF All-Pro player. The whole offensive line has been dominant in nearly every category and is the main engine that has driven the offenses successes this season.

4) Denver Broncos
Team OLi Grade: 83.0
Best-Ranked OL: Garett Bolles, 89.0 (7th overall, 3rd position)
Worst-Ranked OL: Alex Palczewski, 63.5 (159th overall, 61st position)

And one more to complete the picture comes from Sharp Football Analysis who has the Broncos ranked fifth-overall in their NFL Offensive Line Stats:

There is so much evidence that shows the trenches on both side of the ball is what has brought the success of the 2025 Broncos. It’s an area that Sean Payton has said in the past is always an area of focus. He knows you don’t win consistently if your team is being dominated in the trenches.

Source link

Denver, CO

Here’s how the NFL typically handles the top seeded team’s Divisional Round schedule

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Here’s how the NFL typically handles the top seeded team’s Divisional Round schedule

As the number one seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos could end up playing on either Saturday or Sunday. It all comes down to which teams win during Wild Card weekend.

Head Coach Sean Payton was asked about the potential Divisional Round schedule and he said nothing is finalized. However, the NFL has been known to follow a certain schedule that could end up with the Broncos playing on Saturday if either the Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Chargers win on Sunday and they’d play the following Sunday only if they had to wait until Monday for the outcome of the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers game.

The other thing with that extra week off is about preparation. One of the better questions the media asked of Payton on Friday was whether or not they do more advanced scouting on potential opponents they have not yet played this season.

“Look, there are four options,” Payton said. “One is in the division. We’ve played one two years in a row—or it feels like that with Houston. Buffalo. We’ll break down kind of all four and then look at… We’ll have personnel reports on the four… You do have enough time to look at third down, look at personnel packages, study situational football. I think that’s pretty common when you look at playoff history. A lot of times, you end up with a division team sometimes in the first round. I know that’s happened a number of times over the years with me. It’s hard to gauge how these other games are going to go not having spent much time looking at New England. [We’ve] seen Jacksonville. It’s one of those where you just watch them. You’re working while you watch them. You’re working on each plan, and then you go from there.”

I came away feeling like Payton and the Broncos know two of their potential opponents fairly well. The other two will get some high level review, but nothing super deep as there just isn’t enough time. That is saved for this coming week when the opponent is finalized.

Payton and his staff have some great experience coaching in the playoffs, so this young Broncos team should be well-prepared for their football game.

Frankly, I like the idea of the Broncos getting their game out of the way early. Give Payton and his staff an extra day to begin the prep work needed for the AFC Championship game provided they come out with a win in the Divisional Round.

Source link