Denver, CO
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!
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Denver, CO
Denver Barkey scores first career goal as Flyers take down Oilers
Item 1 of 33 Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
[1/33]Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images Purchase Licensing Rights
January 3 – Denver Barkey’s first NHL tally highlighted a three-goal first period for the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the host Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored in the first, while Nick Seeler and Owen Tippett each posted a goal with an assist and Sean Couturier added two helpers for the Flyers, who finished a 3-2-0 road trip. Dan Vladar made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which allowed 13 Edmonton shots on goal in the first period, but just 11 the rest of the way.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 15 games with his 25th goal of the season and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who have dropped two straight and three of four.
Philadelphia made its mark early in the first period. Tippett passed the puck into the slot for a streaking Barkey, who beat Oilers’ Calvin Pickard (24 saves) for his milestone goal just 7:16 into the contest.
Barkey’s marker essentially set the tempo, as the visitors made it 2-0 with 9:29 left in the first when Sanheim beat Pickard from the right circle.
Philadelphia then extended its lead a little over four minutes later when an Edmonton turnover led to the puck deflecting into the net off the heel of Brink’s skate off a shot from Cam York.
Vladar, meanwhile, was solid by stopping 12 shots in the first period. However, he couldn’t prevent McDavid from scoring on a breakaway, which came off a Sanheim turnover in the neutral zone, with 3:52 remaining before the first intermission.
The Oilers made it 3-2 on the power play with 10:06 remaining in the second period. With an assist from McDavid, Bouchard unloaded a successful slap shot from the left point to give Edmonton at least one goal on the man advantage in nine of the last 10 games.
Philadelphia found some breathing room with 10:51 remaining in regulation off Seeler’s wrister for his first goal of the season. Tippett added an empty-netter as the Flyers scored at least five goals for the third time in their last six.
McDavid, meanwhile, has 14 goals with 22 assists in the last 15 games.
–Field Level Media
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Denver, CO
A franchise quarterback is vital to winning division titles
You might respond to this headline with ‘and water is wet’ and I wouldn’t blame you, but I was looking over the Denver Broncos history and how often they have won a division title. In their 65 years, the Broncos have brought home 16 AFC West division titles. That’s not very many, but given their first winning season was almost 20 years into it then it doesn’t look so bad.
The other thing I noticed is that only those teams who had a franchise quarterback type player under center did they repeat often as division winners. 11 of those 16 titles were won while John Elway or Peyton Manning were quarterbacking the franchise. Craig Morton won two backed by the vaunted Orange Crush defense of the 70s, but the rest were one-off division winners like Jake Plummer and Tim Tebow. Now that latter list includes Bo Nix.
The craziest stat that I found researching this topic was that all but one Broncos team that did not win the division were one-and-done in the playoffs. The lone team that wasn’t was that 1997 Super Bowl winning squad. Every single other team that finished second or third in the division and made the playoffs did not win a game once they got there. That doesn’t have much to do with the franchise quarterback topic here, but I found this little tidbit too interesting to not share.
As for the division winners, there were plenty of one-and-done seasons there too, but all of their playoff wins sans-1997 are also there.
The question I meant to get to sooner before going off on that side quest regarding the playoff outcomes was whether or not Bo Nix joins Elway and Manning or ends up with the Plummer and Morton’s of history of pretty good but not all-time great. A few playoff wins over the next month would certainly move the needle some before adding more division titles down the road.
Denver, CO
Denver police report increase in street racing arrests and citations in 2025
DENVER — Street racing continues to pose threats to Colorado drivers, so Denver7 looked into the trends we saw throughout 2025.
Denver Police report 80 citations and arrests as of December 17 for 2025. That’s 20 more than last year, according to Doug Schepman, director of communications for the Denver Police Department (DPD).
There is one strip of road in Denver we asked Schepman about specifically, after hearing from business owners that it’s particularly troublesome.
We’re talking about the 2000 block of S. Santa Fe Drive in Denver.
Michael Gray, owner of Discount Fishing Tackle, said it’s a weekly occurrence to watch or hear cars and motorcycles zip past.
“Recently, we’ve seen the kids on the motorcycles coming by with the front wheel in the air, going just as dangerous as can be, and especially dangerous because so many other people are going so fast on this road,” Gray said.
He said he’s noticed that as more turnoffs are removed and the spacing between traffic lights gets longer, more drivers tend to use it as their personal raceway.
“It doesn’t affect us really too much, but you don’t like to have something as dangerous as that going on all the time,” he said.
Schepman said patrol districts are aware that street racing occurs along this stretch of South Santa Fe Drive, and that officers are directed to patrol the area during periods when reports are more prevalent.
He adds that the community plays a critical part in helping investigators curb this problem.
The Colorado State Patrol said it has received more than 1,700 reports from the community this year.
You can continue to report street racing here.
Denver7
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Allie Jennerjahn
Denver7’s Allie Jennerjahn covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, corruption and ways to protect your family. If you’d like to get in touch with Allie, fill out the form below to send her an email.
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