Quick reaction: Nuggets 127, Raptors 125

b

R. Barrett29 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 9-21 FG, 2-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -3 +/-

RJ makes his season debut in Game 4. He missed his first shot, which gave him 9 points until his next miss. Some slight mistakes at the rim will hopefully go away in a few games as he gets more comfortable. RJ's follow-up looks much cleaner as he shows a quick hop step into a shoulder bump and then outruns a defender in the second half. His best quarter came in the first quarter and he faded the rest of the way. Midway through the fourth, RJ came away with the game-winning move when he hit Aaron Gordon with a one-handed tomahawk. He had a good extra time that ended with a terrible hero's third. He was invisible outside of 1st and OT.

A

S. Barnes35 MIN, 21 PTS, 12 REB, 9 AST, 5 STL, 9-19 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-4 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, -2 +/-

Good start for Scottie in this game as he didn't take many shots at the start but brought a lot of energy to the boards and defense and showed off his playing ability. He was hunting for his shot in the second quarter and made several hard shots into the post. The highlight of the game for Scottie was either the half-court lob pass to Agbaji or his chase-down block late in the fourth quarter after a head-scratching turnover. Took a Jokic forearm to the face in the final seconds of the game, so hopefully Scottie B is okay.

A-

J. Pöltl40 MIN, 16 PTS, 19 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 7-13 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, -1 +/-

Decent start on the boards for Poeltl and a nice contested shot against Michael Porter Jr. at the start of the first quarter. One of his biggest weaknesses, free throws are looking much better so far. Jokic cooked him, but the Joker cooked everyone, so you can't knock him out for that. Pöltl started the third quarter surprisingly well with a block and two points. He showed off a classic Siakam move when he turned the dribble into a spin that led to a layup against Jokic. He improved as the game progressed and easily had his best game of the season so far. The only negative thing about him so far is some very bad turnovers.

B-

G. Dick37 MIN, 15 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 5-13 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -4 +/-

Pedestrian start, quarter shooting after his first shift. Not much in the second quarter either. Gradey has definitely been working on his finishing as he nailed the double-clutch layup from opening night here again tonight. He saved his best for last when he made some huge free throws and two huge three-pointers midway through the fourth quarter. After a thrilling fourth quarter, Gradey missed a contested fast-break layup that could have made it a one-point game with less than a minute left.

A-

D. Mitchell35 MIN, 16 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 5-10 FG, 3-6 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, 0 +/-

Pedestrian start, with just two points and one rebound after his first shift. Things looked much better in the second quarter with solid defense and eight points. He started forcing some tough shots in the second half after the second quarter gave him a confidence boost. Mitchell had great playmaking in the fourth quarter as he picked up several assists in the most important quarter. The only problem with Mitchell so far has been ball losses. With just over nine seconds left, the Nuggets managed to tie the game with a two at the buzzer thanks to a serious free throw error, which they did. A huge three-pointer in overtime gave the Raptors life just as the game was about to spiral out of control.

B+

O. Agbaji29 MIN, 15 PTS, 7 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 6-12 FG, 2-5 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -5 +/-

First player off the bench. So far this season, Agbaji hasn't taken any bad shots and has played good defense. This continued tonight. Wasn't a big fan of his last season but so far Agbaji is showing much better decision-making ability. It was a bad miss with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter that resulted in just one possession for the rest of the game.

B-

C. Boucher13 MIN, 4 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-6 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/-

Boucher was all but invisible in the first half, but in the second half he showed great rim protection and made a strong fade-away jumper from mid-range.

B+

J. Shead18 MIN, 8 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 4-8 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/-

Great work from Jamal Murray early on his first shift as he forced a few errors at the rim. Great energy and playing ability as always. His second half wasn't great, but he launched a huge attack early in the fourth quarter that stopped a fast-paced Nuggets attack. It's great to have a guard like Shead who can lead the second unit with ease.

b

J. Mogbo14 MIN, 6 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 2 +/-

Good defensive work almost all night. There was nothing crazy on offense, but the defense was great. A quiet game on paper, but he had a bigger impact on the pitch tonight.

b

J. Battle12 MIN, 4 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/-

Great block against Dario Saric at the start of the second quarter. Picked up some unnecessary fouls during his first shift. After the check in the third quarter, Battle played great defense against Murray, forcing an assist block from Boucher at the rim and then making a great backdoor cut on the offensive end for an easy two-pointer. Just like Mogbo, the stats look quiet, but he was impressive tonight.

F

D. Cardboard03 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -3 +/-

He got a few running minutes in the first half, but there wasn't much that stood out during his time out there. I'm not a fan of giving incomplete grades unless it's a waste of time so the DJ has to get an unfair A.

A-

Darko Rajakovic

You can criticize Darko's tactics, but you can't deny his energy and love for the team. He stormed in during the argument between Barnes and Gordon to make sure the situation didn't escalate further. I'm not a fan of there being no timeout at the end because the Nuggets had more runners on defense than the Raptors had on offense, but it's not just Darko's fault as that's a terrible shooting decision by RJ. That was Darko's only mistake tonight as the rotations looked good all game.