The NBA’s best clutch defense defeated the team with the best clutch record on Monday at Ball Arena.

The NBA defines the clutch as a five-point game in the final five minutes. With five minutes left of Denver’s 113-107 win over the Bucks, the Nuggets led by one. Milwaukee entered Monday’s game with the best record in the clutch, 18-6, while Denver owned the league’s best defensive rating, 96.5 in such situations.

“Very, very proud of our group for playing the way we’ve played and closing out games,” coach Michael Malone said after his 400th win as coach of the Nuggets and Doc Rivers’ first loss as Bucks coach.

“We have the No. 1 clutch defense in the NBA through 47, 48 games, and I thought you saw some great examples of that tonight, as well.”

Jamal Murray hit a couple of free throws to put Denver up three before Peyton Watson’s steal led to a Michael Porter Jr. transition layup. Brook Lopez was then called for an illegal screen, and Porter slipped to the rim for a dunk off Nikola Jokic’s assist. After Khris Middleton missed a 3, Murray hit a mid-range jumper to put the Nuggets up nine with a little more than three minutes remaining.

“It really came down to who can defend each other,” Murray said.

Then, the Bucks showed why they’re so good in tight situations. A little more than a minute later, Denver’s lead was down to three thanks to 3s from Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo and a couple of free throws from Milwaukee’s two-time Most Valuable Player.

“They have a great team, of course. They have a perfect fit for the play style they have. We just needed to make it hard on them. I think the third quarter was really good for us,” Jokic said, citing Milwaukee’s 19-point third quarter.

“We showed ourselves we can make stops, and I think in the fourth quarter, it was good defense.”

Jamal Murray answered with the final field goal of his game-high, 35-point night, and Denver strung together three consecutive stops. The last of those was Aaron Gordon’s block on Damian Lillard’s driving layup. The ball bounced off Lillard, who was standing out of bounds, and Murray sunk one last free throw to put the Nuggets up six with 24 seconds left.

“Aaron’s block late on Dame was a big, big block,” Malone said.

Gordon and Watson made the loudest defensive plays, but they were hardly alone. Malone shouted out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for his work on Damian Lillard, who scored 18 points on 13 shots for Milwaukee. Jokic finished with another triple-double, posting 25 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists. But Malone was most excited about his 15 defensive rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Antetokounmpo finished his 29-point, 12-rebound performance with two more free throws, but Caldwell-Pope answered at the line on the other end. A travel call on Antetokounmpo with just eight seconds left sealed Denver’s clutch win.

“We had a lot of guys step up on that end of the floor,” Malone said. “Complete buy-in and a lot of commitment and discipline.”

NUGGETS 113, BUCKS 107

What happened: Denver jumped to second in the Western Conference by beating the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.

Milwaukee scored the first seven points, but Denver closed within one to start the second and tied the game at 56 by halftime. Denver led by seven after three quarters and held on late to improve to 33-15 on the season. It also marked Michael Malone’s 400th win as coach of the Nuggets.

What went right: The free throw line favored the Nuggets. Giannis Antetokounmpo got his average of 11 free throw attempts but made just six. The Bucks finished 19 of 25 (76%) from the line, while Denver finished 21 of 24. Jamal Murray went 9 of 10 from the line, while Nikola Jokic was 4 for 5.

What went wrong: The three-point line wasn’t so friendly to Denver. The Nuggets made just 4 of the 18 (22.2%) 3s they attempted, while Milwaukee went 16 of 39 (41%) from deep. Brook Lopez led the Bucks, going 5 of 9 from 3, while no Nuggets player made multiple 3s.

Highlight of the night: Denver’s centers both had big-time dunks against the Bucks. Nikola Jokic snuck a dunk over Brook Lopez, who’s second in the NBA in blocks per game, in the third quarter. Jokic started the break and hit Aaron Gordon on the left wing. With Lopez stuck between the two, Gordon passed it right back to Jokic who quickly elevated for a two-handed dunk. DeAndre Jordan put Antetokounmpo on a poster early in the fourth after catching a lob from Reggie Jackson.

Up next: The Nuggets head to Oklahoma City for Wednesday’s game against the Thunder.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, left, looks to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

David Zalubowski