Altitude, schmaltitude.
That surely seemed to be the Toronto Raptors’s approach tonight, as they shook off the effects of the rare Colorado air to notch an impressive, improbably 127-115 over the Denver Nuggets.
Although the Raptors deftly maintained a small lead for most of the first 30 minutes of the game, things looked to be shifting Denver’s way late in the third. Toronto’s defensive energy waned, the Nuggets were scoring with ease, and a fourth-quarter Denver rout seemed almost inevitable.
Instead, mad scientist Nick Nurse trotted out a bizarro world lineup of Scottie Barnes, Dalano Banton, Khem Birch, Chris Boucher and Thad Young to start the fourth.