NBA: Clutch-Pöltl becomes match winner against Nuggets

Jakob Pöltl has led the Toronto Raptors to an important victory over the Denver Nuggets. Especially in the final phase he became the decisive man for the Canadians.

That was an official statement by Jakob Pöltl! In a high-class duel with the Denver Nuggets, the Austrian finally became the match winner. After the offensives dominated on both sides for long stretches of the game, the Raptors around Anker Pöltl – who among other things delivered an important block – increased their intensity in the defense and thus decided the game in the fourth quarter.

As so often with the Canadians, the Second Unit, to which Pöltl also belongs, was a big factor. The bankers came back with 53 points and the nuggets with only 26. On the other hand, Nikola Jokic got a cream day with the guests: The Serb played 29 points, 16 rebounds and 8 assists.

2 minutes before the end Jamal Murray shortened the nuggets gap to 101:107. But Pöltl replied on the other side with a goal from half distance and putbacked a short time later. But that wasn’t the decision yet: A wild Jokic triple with 10 seconds left on the clock set 110:113 from a nugget’s point of view. After a time-out, Raptors Center Jonas Valanciunas was fouled. He missed the first free throw, but hit the decisive second in the two-possession game.

Pöltl, who was on the field for almost the entire crunch time, scored 12 points (6/8 FG) after the buzzer, all of which he scored in the fourth quarter. Added to this were 8 rebounds. Fred VanVleet, DeMar Derozan and Valanciunas each scored 15 points, while Paul Millsap and Jokic also scored 20 points in the nuggets.