When the Nuggets are right, they play a beautiful game. They cut to the hoop, make deft passes, play tenacious defense, take care of the basketball, and hit the open shot. They pulverize opponents at Ball Arena, running them into the ground. These Nuggets aren’t those Nuggets. Certainly not yet. But they gutted out a big win Monday night. Trailing Toronto almost the entire game, Denver mounted a furious rally to win, 121-119. With point guard Jamal Murray still out of the lineup, and power forward Aaron Gordon aggravating his calf injury early in the game, Denver had to dig deep and struggled all night to find its rhythm. “We have a lot of young players, and the more they are in these situations, it’s only going to help their confidence and their development,” coach Michael Malone said. “I was proud of our group. We were down 11 with 5:30 to go and we weren’t playing great. We turned the ball over a lot in the first half. “In the second half, we just stayed with it. That’s probably the third or fourth time this season where we were down early and there was no panic. Just stay the course … stay the course and find a way to figure it out.” Barely. At the buzzer, R.J. Barrett threw up a 26-foot prayer with Russell Westbrook draped all over him. Barrett’s potential game-winning 3-pointer spun around the rim and came out. “Honestly, I was already running to the locker room,” said Westbrook, who scored 21 points. “I thought I did a great job contesting (the shot) and I actually tipped the ball, too. I didn’t think it was going in. Then I turned around and saw the in-and-out. “But that’s a shot I wanted him to take. He was trying to get to the basket to his left and I’ll take that every time.” Added Nuggets coach Michael Malone: “That shot at the end, I still don’t know how it didn’t go down. I’m very thankful on ‘Grateful Dead Night’ that it didn’t.” Yes, there were some psychedelic Nuggets jerseys in the crowd. Nikola Jokic — who else? — carried the Nuggets like a freight train, scoring 28 points, dishing out 14 assists and grabbing 14 rebounds for another triple-double. Julian Strawther’s driving fastbreak layup with 1 minute, 9 seconds left gave the Nuggets a 120-119 lead. He also hit one of two free throws in the final minute. Strawther redeemed himself after playing a poor first half, especially on the defensive end, which Malone termed “unexceptable.” “Julian said, ‘Coach, thanks for staying with me and believing in me,” Malone said. “I said, ‘Hey man, I’m not going to pull the plug on you. You’re going to have bad halves.’ ” The play that sparked the final rally was a 24-foot baseline 3-pointer by Christian Braun off an assist by Michael Porter Jr. The crowd erupted as Denver claimed a 118-117 lead. Gordon, who entered the game with right calf inflammation, left the game in the first quarter after playing just four minutes. He left the game with a calf strain after getting called for charging. He grabbed his leg but walked to the locker room without assistance. He did not return. “Honestly, I was a little surprised he played last game,” Malone said. “The schedule has not been overly kind to us early. I think he’s dealing with just bumps and bruises, nothing long-term. But I’ll have to talk to our training staff to get an update on that.” Murray, in concussion protocol, missed his second straight game. In the third quarter, Jokic kept the Nuggets in the game when the Raptors started to pull away. The center scored 11 points, dished out three assists and snared seven rebounds as Denver stayed within five points, 93-88. It was Denver’s second comeback win over the Raptors this season. In the season’s third game, the Nuggets rallied for a 127-125 overtime win in Toronto. Led by Murray, the Nuggets put together a 13-3 run in the last 2:10 to send the game into OT. Related Articles Denver Nuggets | Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert were stunned Nikola Jokic knew a Timberwolves play-call — but Jokic does it all the time Denver Nuggets | Michael Porter Jr. and the Nuggets are past their slow 3-point shooting start. Will they seek more attempts next? Denver Nuggets | Nuggets preaching patience as second unit finds identity, but they’re not shying away from slow start: “I’ve been really bad” Denver Nuggets | Nikola Jokic’s third-quarter heat check leads Nuggets to first home win of season over Utah Jazz Denver Nuggets | Christian Braun blames himself for momentum swing after dunking on Rudy Gobert, getting technical foul Gradey Dick led the Raptors with 26 points Monday night. The Nuggets started the game sloppy and discombobulated. After taking a quick 11-5 lead in which Jokic dished out three assists and finished a drive with a definitive dunk, the Nuggets lost their momentary mojo. They committed seven turnovers in less than eight minutes to find themselves down 29-22 with 3:51 left in the quarter. By the end of the first, Toronto led 37-34, converting eight Nuggets turnovers into 12 points. At the end of the first half, the Raptors led 64-59, converting 12 turnovers into 16 points. Porter scored 12 points, hitting 3 of 6 3-pointers to keep Denver close. Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.