The Denver Nuggets pulled off a stunning 118-117 victory in overtime over the Atlanta Hawks in Tuesday night, boosting their record to 24-19 this season. Both teams had multiple chances to pull off the victory in late-game situations, both in regulation and overtime, and the Nuggets came up with the big stops in the game's final seconds.
Atlanta had possession trailing by one point with just 11 seconds remaining, but an attacking Joe Johnson failed knock down a wild layup with a couple seconds left. In the mad scramble for the ball after Johnson's miss, referees determined that Denver's Nene touched the ball, giving possession to Atlanta with just under four seconds remaining.
Needed one final stop to preserve the victory, the Hawks tried to surprise the Nuggets by giving the ball to Zaza Pachulia in the post, and the center ended up missing a contested shot at the rim to give Denver the win. Danilo Gallinari was there to alter Pachulia's shot at the last second.
Denver's scoring attack was quite balanced on the night, with Nene (22 points), Ty Lawson (21 points), Al Harrington (19 points) and Gallinari (19 points) all playing key roles on offense throughout the night. Atlanta got huge scoring nights from Johnson, who put up 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting, and Josh Smith, who scored 33 points on 13-of-23 shooting.
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