The Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors put on a thriller Wednesday night to close out 2025 as Denver came away with the 106-103 win, but not before there was some controversy in the final seconds. 

Denver was up by three and after an unsuccessful free throw attempt by Bruce Brown, Scottie Barnes grabbed the rebound and launched a two-handed pass all the way down court to find Brandon Ingram, who didn't hesitate shoot what would have been a game-tying three pointer on the move to beat the buzzer and send the game into overtime. 

His shot landed and the Toronto crowd erupted, but an official review confirmed that Ingram didn't get the shot up in time and overturned the would-be game tying shot, securing the win for Denver. 

"The thing that was going through my mind was I was really close to telling Spencer [Jones] to get back to him [Ingram] and then the other part of me though, Bruce [Brown] just missed one. Am I really going to wait another 15 seconds for Bruce to shoot it? I really mean that," Denver head coach David Adelman said (via Nuggets). 

Adelman continued, "That had nothing to do with the absolutely unbelievable pass that was made and the attempt they got off. I knew it was close. Right away guys behind the bench said it wasn't good. So, that calmed me down a little bit. That was a crazy play. Crazy game."

Wednesday was the Nuggets' first game since star Nikola Jokic hyperextended his right knee during a game against the Miami Heat, which the Nuggets lost 147-123. Jokic may have missed a more serious ACL or MCL tear, but he'll still be sidelined for at least four weeks after playing at an extremely high level lately. 

Jokic is now the fourth of Denver's five starters that has suffered a major injury this season, leaving Jamal Murray as the lone totally healthy man.

The amount of injuries the Nuggets have already had has made Adelman's job of putting rotations together and now with their biggest star and arguably the best player in the NBA out for close to a month, that threatens to throw the entire roster into chaos. 

So far, Adelman has been impressed with the way his team's responded. 

"You've got to give our guys a lot of credit. Another guy gets hurt. We just played people at different positions and we just found a way to win the game. This is what it's going to be for us right now." Adelman said. "You've got to be really proud of that group after a really shocking injury the other night in Miami and really getting our heads beat in by them, in a basketball sense."