Nuggets lost 125-110, to Raptors

For a brief while, Michael Malone sought to come up with pregame speech ideas. The veteran players' postgame advice was insightful, yes, but it was also too late to save the Nuggets' trip to Canada. The Nuggets lost to the Raptors 125-110 on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena after having their worst defensive quarter of the year. With 23 points on 13 field goal attempts, Michael Porter Jr. led a spirited second-half comeback for Denver (46-23), but they couldn't overcome a 24-point deficit until they closed the gap to three early in the fourth.

Right now, the fixing needs to start on defence. 90 minutes before the game, Malone read his team's tea leaves by saying that he had "learned a long time ago: Understand why you win, understand why you lose," adding that the Nuggets' suddenly poor defence was the reason they were losing.