ORLANDO— The Nuggets have had a history of poor fourth-quarter performances this season. In 10 instances heading into the final quarter trailing, the Nuggets have failed to come out on top.
As the Nuggets had lost late leads before, most recently in Thursday’s loss to the Washington Wizards, their late-game execution and defense had broken down. For Denver to find any success, the team would have to learn that lesson.
Danilo Gallinari, Darrell Arthur and Jameer Nelson made sure of that in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets withstood the Orlando Magic’s comeback efforts from a first-half deficit and washed away those fourth quarter problems for a 121-113 win at the Amway Center on Saturday.
“Tonight, I think the key to the game was — yes, we lost the lead — we didn’t lose our heads,” Malone said. “We were poised, we were composed and we executed and got stops. The fact of the matter is, if you want to win games on the road, thatap what you need to do.”
Nelson reminded the Orlando faithful who helped build the arena with a blind, fading away jumper that pulled the Nuggets within two. A few possessions later, Danilo Gallinari put the Nuggets up for good making a 3-pointer with four minutes left. Darrell Arthur followed with a 3-pointer from the corner for a decisive 10-0 run.
The Nuggets won the fourth quarter 29-18, holding the Magic to 7-for-21 shooting. Will Barton scored nine of his 16 points in the final quarter as Denver shot 62.5 percent.
Gallinari finished with 21 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, to lead the Nuggets, playing with the aggression Malone had asked from his star player.
The Nuggets had to execute and break down a Magic defense that had found some momentum behind some stellar defensive play from Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo to spark the third-quarter comeback to take the lead.
Denver had not done that all year to this point.
“One thing we always talk about is fourth-quarter defense is where you have to show up,” Malone said. “The defense for the whole game was not where it needs to be. I’m just very happy we showed up when the game was on the line to pull the win out.”
Denver also got support from several key players off the bench to further secure the victory.
The Nuggets turned to Kenneth Faried in the first quarter after he got his first DNP-Coach’s Decision this year. Faried scored 10 of his 19 points in the quarter and finished with 10 rebounds.
Juancho Hernangomez came off the bench for a career-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Nuggets scored 58 points off the bench.
It helped boost the Nuggets to the lead in the first half and get back in the fourth quarter. No player off the Nuggets bench had a negative plus/minus.
It was a sign of the kind of energy Denver needed to score the road win.
“I thought it was a good performance,” Gallinari said. “I’m glad we were able to get the win. Especially in the fourth quarter. We have not played that well, especially on the defensive end in a while. It was a very good win.”
