Bench, Murray’s close carry Nuggets past Pacers in Mexico City

Jamal Murray came up clutch as the Denver Nuggets held on in Mexico against the Indiana Pacers

Nov 7, 2026, 5:54 PM

Watch: 3 early red flags the Denver Nuggets can't ignore | Shapiro and Piro | 30 mins

The Denver Nuggets had a 27-point lead, a sellout crowd in Mexico City and, for a while, a game that looked over by halftime.

Then the Indiana Pacers started hitting 3-pointers, and the Nuggets needed Jamal Murray to come up clutch.

With 8:33 left and Denver’s lead in single digits for the first time since Hector was a pup, Murray pulled up from 29 feet and buried a step-back 3. It made the score 102-90 and quieted the run. Murray added a smooth transition layup through contact that required amazing dribbling a few minutes later and the Nuggets held on for a 112-102 win Saturday at Arena CDMX.

Denver got there on the strength of a bench that kept the game from slipping away. Eleven Nuggets played, and the reserves scored 43 points. Before the final starters’ stint, Murray, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic had combined to shoot 17 of 46.

Spencer Jones, back from a hamstring injury, was the standout. He scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, made all three of his 3-point attempts, grabbed six rebounds and blocked a shot. He finished plus-14 in 20 minutes, the best mark on the team. DeMar DeRozan added 11 points and five assists, and Marvin Bagley III scored 10.

The bench built the lead in the first place. A second unit of Tyus Jones, Trevon Brazile, Bagley, DeRozan and Cameron Johnson opened the second quarter with Denver up eight. Within five minutes the lead was 21. The Nuggets won the quarter 37-22 and led 64-37 with a minute left in the half after a Murray floater.

Johnson looked as good on offense as he has all season. He led the Nuggets with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Denver also didn’t rely on 3-pointers to win. The Nuggets made 10 of 35 from deep, and Gordon and Braun combined to go 0 for 10. They kept attacking the paint anyway, outscoring Indiana 54-44 inside — the Nuggets had 18 in the first quarter. They also committed only three turnovers, which kept the Pacers from scoring easily in transition off mistakes.

The defense flew around in the first half. Indiana shot 33% before halftime, and Denver held a short-handed Pacers team, playing without Tyrese Haliburton, to 41 points through two quarters.

The second half was a different game. Indiana outscored Denver 37-26 in the third quarter, going 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Larry Nance Jr. hit five 3-pointers off the bench. The lead was 12 entering the fourth, then nine, then seven after Jarace Walker’s transition 3 with 7:26 left.

That’s when the starters returned. Jokic checked back in at 6:33, and the Nuggets steadied. Gordon threw down a dunk from Murray, Braun made two free throws, and Murray kept making the big plays. His fast-break layup with 2:16 left sealed it for good.

Murray finished with 16 points and eight assists. Jokic had 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, though he shot just 7 of 20.

It wasn’t a clean win. Denver let a 27-point lead shrink to seven against a team without its best player, and Indiana made 15 3-pointers. But four days after the Nuggets’ best win of the season against Toronto, they won on a night when their stars didn’t shoot well. They did it because their bench went 11 deep and performed on the road.