Grizzlies Fall 123-118 to Nuggets Despite Late Comeback

Cameron Boozer had a chance to tie Wednesday night, but missed a 28-foot shot with 6.9 seconds left after grabbing Nikola Jokić’s missed free throw with 12.5 seconds remaining and bringing the ball up himself. The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 123-118 at FedExForum.

Memphis never led. Denver built an 18-point second-quarter lead, but the Grizzlies twice pulled within one in the third. Jamal Murray scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth, shooting 7-of-8.

Ty Jerome and Jaylen Wells scored 22 apiece. Jerome had 11 in the fourth, and Wells made 5 of his 10 3-point attempts. Boozer finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Cedric Coward added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Jokić had 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists for Denver (6-4). Cameron Johnson scored 23, and his 3-pointer off a Jokić pass with 1:01 left put the Nuggets up seven.

Wells hit a 3 off a Jerome pass, then Zach Edey’s hook shot off Boozer’s feed made it 120-118 with 20.6 seconds left. Memphis fouled twice, and Jokić split the free throws.

By then, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo had put Isaiah Stewart in for Wells, alongside Jerome, Boozer, Coward, and Edey. No timeout was called after Boozer’s rebound.

“He got the rebound,” Iisalo said. “We had talked about it with Ty Jerome that if we get that rebound, we’re gonna go and then not allow them to set their half-court defense. Always after those situations, you always think about should we had done this, should we had done that.”

“… We had our two best ball handlers and a good rebounding position underneath inside with the bigs, and Booz felt the hand of the defender inside the cookie jar,” Iisalo continued. “And try to — I like the decision there to try to go for the three free throws, but obviously didn’t go our way, and love the fact that Booz was in that situation, looked to push and try to get that, create that open shot right there.”

No foul was called. Aaron Gordon grabbed the miss and made two free throws, and Boozer missed again from 24 feet with 3.3 seconds left.

Boozer, the third overall pick in June, played 33:08, more than anyone else in a Memphis uniform.

“I waited a second to see if we were gonna call timeout or not,” Boozer said. “I saw Ty and Coach talking about it before. On a miss, he wanted me to push, so I pushed it, and I thought I got fouled.”

“I watched the replay,” Boozer continued. “I either had to go up right when he touched me, or waited a second later and get a better shot, but it’s a learning experience.”

Denver shot 58.3% in the first half and scored 30 of its 54 paint points before the break, and it took a 13-point lead into halftime.

Murray picked up his fourth foul on a Wells 3-point try early in the third, and Wells made all three free throws. Murray sat until 2:53 remained. By then, Memphis had cut a 14-point deficit to two, and Boozer’s pull-up 3 later made it 87-86. The Grizzlies won the quarter 38-29 and went to the fourth down 94-90.

Cam Spencer had 15 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, plus a technical and a flagrant 1 in the third quarter. Jerami Grant scored 14. The Memphis bench outscored Denver’s 44-22.

Denver committed 6 turnovers, two of them shot-clock violations. Memphis had 12, and the Nuggets scored 15 points off them to the Grizzlies’ 2.

The Nuggets assisted on 34 of their 49 baskets. Memphis made 17 3-pointers and 19 of its 21 free throws, and Denver won the paint 54-40.

GG Jackson and Boozer had the Grizzlies’ only steals.

“I wouldn’t take too many learning from that,” Iisalo explained. “Like I wouldn’t make that the major point is what I’m saying. There are other things, in my opinion, that are more important from this game.”

“For example, we were not able to disrupt them in a way that we wanted,” Iisalo continued. “They only had six total turnovers and had a very efficient half-court offense through both Jokić and Murray. And I think we can take some lessons there.”

Murray, Jokić, Gordon, and Christian Braun were all on Denver’s 2023 championship team.

“I think that this was a good team to play against, and obviously we wanted to come out with a win,” Wells said. “I think we could come out with a win, but playing against a championship team like that, just seeing their execution, seeing that they didn’t waste the possession. So I think that’s probably the biggest things.”

Quinten Post sat out in the concussion protocol after taking an elbow to the face Monday in Toronto, where Memphis won 118-102. Stewart, listed as questionable with a right knee bone bruise, returned from a two-game absence and played 18:03.

The Grizzlies (7-4) have lost four straight at home and are 5-0 on the road. They play at the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday at 7 p.m. CT in the Emirates NBA Cup. New Orleans beat Memphis 135-134 in overtime on Nov. 2.