INDIANAPOLIS — The Nuggets were shooting bricks until Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tried using a rock.
With 8:07 remaining in the third quarter Tuesday night, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle was ejected for arguing a no-call after Caldwell-Pope defended new Pacer Pascal Siakam like a brick wall. Momentum was shifting inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Nuggets needed to sustain it with the right guy stepping to the line for Carlisle’s double technical. A dispute sparked between the team’s two best free throw shooters. Cue rock-paper-scissors.
“He’s a little older than me, so I understand where he was coming from,” Jamal Murray said, mocking Caldwell-Pope for wanting the shots. “I had it going, too. And I didn’t realize he had just hit two 3s, so at that point, it doesn’t really matter. We both had it going. Sometimes he’ll let me shoot it if I don’t. If I haven’t scored yet or haven’t had a rhythm, and obviously vice versa.”
Murray played scissors. Caldwell-Pope crushed them with a rock.
What ensued the remainder of the second half was a rock fight with one of the peskiest burgeoning teams in the NBA. The Nuggets erased a 13-point deficit, coughed up their own 13-point lead, then finally outlasted the fresh-faced, fast-paced Pacers, 114-109. With a five-game road trip ending Thursday at Madison Square Garden, Denver (31-14) has won three straight.
“What I like about tonight is it wasn’t easy,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We had to work for this. We had to pick up our energy. And we were able to do so.”
Nikola Jokic registered his 13th triple-double of the season with 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, punctuated by a game-clinching 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left. The Pacers elected to defend out a possession after cutting the deficit to 111-109 with a four-second difference between shot clock and game clock. They blitzed Murray after Jokic’s screen initiated their two-man game, and Jokic was left wide open. “We have a great connection, just playing off each other,” Murray said. “That was the read.”
Jokic stepped into his three from the top of the key and with a hand in his face to beat the shot clock buzzer.
“Cash,” Caldwell-Pope said.
“The cherry on top,” Malone said.
Jokic also scored the go-ahead bucket with 1:38 remaining to break a 107-107 tie. Murray matched him with 31, including a goal-tended transition layup to double that lead.
The Nuggets outscored the Pacers 18-4 in fast-break points despite Indiana boasting the best transition offense in the league. Much of that was thanks to the third quarter. Caldwell-Pope, aided by those technical foul free throws, scored 12 in the frame on six field goal attempts after a 1-for-5 first half to lead Denver in a 20-point swing.
“We already know that our five-man starting unit is the best analytical, efficient, five-man unit in the NBA,” Malone said. “So when Pope is knocking down 3s, he’s driving and finishing at the basket, which he did tonight, and then he’s giving you the defense and the hustle. … He’s a two-time world champion. He finds a way to impact the game in a lot of different ways without me calling many plays for him.”
Caldwell-Pope’s heel turn was representative of his whole team: The Nuggets were shooting 47% from the floor and 19% from three at halftime while trailing 62-54 to the Pacers (61% shooting, 50% from three). Then in the third, Denver erupted for 10 of its fast-break points, five 3-pointers and a 14-8 rebounding edge, all while tightening defensive screws to slow Indiana down.
The Pacers (24-20) shot 36% in the quarter and turned it over four times.
Carlisle’s ejection was a consequence of sticking up for his new prized asset. Siakam was making his Pacers home debut after a blockbuster trade last week brought him from Canada to the Midwest. At what cost? Three first-round picks and former Nugget Bruce Brown.
Siakam has been asked to carry the load for Indiana in his first three games, with rising superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton dealing with an injury. The Nuggets avoided Haliburton in both games but still got the Pacers’ fiercest effort in Indianapolis.
They also got a competitive game within the game from their own teammates. Murray says to expect a rock, paper, scissors rematch next time there’s a technical.
“It’s locked in,” he said. “I’ve got (KCP’s) tendencies. … I’m gonna get the next one.”
“There’s no strategy,” Caldwell-Pope countered.
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