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Nuggets

SINGAPORE INDOOR STADIUM, SINGAPORE &ndash; Spain&rsquo;s Unicaja Malaga has etched its name in history once again, as the reigning champions defended their crown on Sunday, defeating NBA G League United 71-61 to claim the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.&nbsp;
With the victory, Unicaja became just the second club in nearly five decades to win back-to-back titles in the competition.
The night was a tale of two halves. NBA G League United, a select team assembled only three weeks prior to the tournament, delivered a spirited opening, even holding the lead at halftime. But Unicaja&rsquo;s championship pedigree and defensive intensity took over after the break, as the Spanish side seized control with a dominant third quarter and never looked back.
Despite their limited preparation, NBA G League United looked sharp early. Chasson Randle set the tone with aggressive shot-making, while Feron Hunt made his presence felt on the glass. Their quick tempo and commitment to sharing the ball frustrated Unicaja in stretches, and by halftime, United held a 36-33 advantage over the defending champions.
It was a proud moment for head coach Joseph Blair, who praised his group for how they embraced the challenge of representing the G League against top international competition. &ldquo;FIBA ICC is more than just basketball; this is unity,&rdquo; Blair said after the game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud, especially after being assembled three weeks just before the tournament.&rdquo;
That pride carried over into the locker room, where the players spoke of how quickly they bonded. Randle, one of United&rsquo;s veterans, highlighted the camaraderie that formed in a short time. &ldquo;It was a fun group; everybody understood the mission,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;We had great moments, we had so much talent playing together. It felt like family, we became brothers, and I look forward to continuing the relationship with these guys.&rdquo;
United&rsquo;s fight was evident, but the challenge of sustaining that level against an experienced European power loomed large.
Coming out of halftime, Unicaja&rsquo;s approach shifted dramatically. Head coach Ibon Navarro&rsquo;s squad turned up the pressure, forcing turnovers and dictating the tempo. The result was a 23-5 third-quarter run that completely flipped the game. By the end of the frame, Unicaja had built a commanding 56-41 lead, silencing United&rsquo;s early momentum.
Navarro admitted his team was shaky to start, but credited his veterans for settling in and sticking to the plan when it mattered most. &ldquo;We started the game not following the game plan, not controlling the first six seconds of G League&rsquo;s play,&rdquo; Navarro explained. &ldquo;We were going too early when we needed to slow it down. But the veterans knew what to do.&rdquo;
That third-quarter stretch was punctuated by timely three-pointers, aggressive drives from Kendrick Perry, and suffocating defense in the paint. United, who had looked confident in the first half, suddenly struggled to find clean looks, committing turnovers under pressure and falling behind by double digits.
Though they tried to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, the damage was already done. Every time United threatened to chip away, Unicaja&rsquo;s poise and execution restored control.
At the heart of Unicaja&rsquo;s run was guard Tyler Kalinoski, whose steady contributions throughout the tournament earned him Most Valuable Player honors. A veteran sharpshooter, Kalinoski provided more than just scoring; his floor spacing, defensive reads, and leadership embodied the consistency that defined Unicaja&rsquo;s run.
After years of coming close in similar situations, Kalinoski admitted the recognition meant a great deal, but was quick to keep the focus on the collective achievement. &ldquo;I am a team player &ndash; winning the championship is my first priority,&rdquo; Kalinoski said. &ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t lie, it feels really good. I&rsquo;ve been in this situation many times before where I almost won, and now I finally won it. But the big trophy means more to me.&rdquo;
While Kalinoski claimed MVP, it was Kendrick Perry who earned Player of the Game honors in the Final, finishing with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Perry&rsquo;s ability to steady the offense during Unicaja&rsquo;s decisive run was vital.
On the other side, Jaden Shackelford led NBA G League United with 17 points, while Feron Hunt added 14 points and 11 rebounds in a strong individual showing.
With the win, Unicaja became the first club in 47 years to successfully defend the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, cementing their status as one of Europe&rsquo;s premier teams. The victory also marked the 24th time a European side has won the tournament, with Spanish clubs accounting for half of those triumphs.
For NBA G League United, the loss marks their second straight runner-up finish in the competition. But the positives are hard to ignore: despite being a newly formed group, they proved capable of pushing a seasoned opponent on the world stage.
Coach Blair stressed that while the result stung, the bigger takeaway was the unity and growth forged in Singapore. His words, paired with Randle&rsquo;s reflections, underscored what the FIBA Intercontinental Cup has become for the G League &mdash; not just a competition, but an opportunity to showcase talent, culture, and resilience.
For Unicaja, this repeat championship reinforces their place as a model of consistency and execution in international basketball. Their ability to withstand adversity early and then dominate defensively is a hallmark of championship teams.
For NBA G League United, it was another step in building legitimacy on the global stage. Facing elite opposition in a hostile environment, they showed grit, flashes of brilliance, and togetherness that belied their short preparation window.
In the end, the Final boiled down to experience over ambition. United struck first, but Unicaja struck last &mdash; and hardest &mdash; with a third-quarter surge that defined the game and delivered yet another piece of silverware to Malaga.

Spain’s Unicaja Malaga defended their crown on Sunday, defeating NBA G League United to claim the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2025: Spain’s Unicaja repeat over NBA G League United

In case you&rsquo;ve been overly consumed by the NBA, college basketball, or the WNBA off-season, now would be a great time to remind y&rsquo;all that the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers are going on.
And in case you didn&rsquo;t know, the host countries for the 2023 World Cup are Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines &mdash; more on that later.
The last World Cup was right before the 2019-20 season, but feels so long ago because this whole COVID thing hadn&rsquo;t yet clapped us up. If you remember, the 2020 Olympics took place in 2021 &mdash; as in, last year. Yeah, I know, the international stuff can get confusing, but I&rsquo;m here to help you. Trust me.
Now, perhaps quietly to some, international play quickly resumed this past November with the first window of 2023 World Cup qualifying, which we&rsquo;ll recap shortly.
You have four sets of qualifying regions: Africa, Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. There are six windows played over a 15-month span (starting from this past November), where the competing squads normally would participate in two games per window. COVID had other ideas &mdash; more on that later.
Currently, each region has groups of four, and the top three in each group will advance to round two following the June/July window. This current round of qualifying is between Nov. 20-30, Feb. 21-March 1, and June 27-July 5, after which we&rsquo;ll enter round two. Round two also occurs over three windows: August 22-30, Nov. 7-15, and Feb. 20-28, then those who will have qualified will enter group drawing next March, and we&rsquo;ll see them compete between August 25-September 10 &mdash; the World Cup.
Now, let&rsquo;s lay out all the things you should probably know and, if you see a number in parenthesis next to a team that&rsquo;s listed, that&rsquo;s their current world ranking, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingmen">according to FIBA</a>. So if you feel like your people are being misrepresented, leave me alone and take that up with them. (Unless &hellip; unless you mean, you know, actual greater good/societal misrepresentation, then &hellip; let&rsquo;s talk, because me, too.)
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African Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Angola, Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia
As they did in 2019, Africa will get five of the final 32 World Cup spots. Though they&rsquo;re hoping for a better result, because none of them advanced past&nbsp;group play. The Groups are as follows:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Nigeria (22), Mali (72), Cape Verde (74), Uganda (78),</li>
<li>Group B: Tunisia (28), Cameroon (64), South Sudan (82), Rwanda (84)</li>
<li>Group C: Angola (31), Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire (40), Central African Rep. (75), Guinea (99)</li>
<li>Group D: Senegal (34), Egypt (59), Congo DR (81), Kenya (103)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Africa has a slightly different format. Groups A and C each played three games from Nov. 26-28, the biggest perhaps being Cape Verde&rsquo;s 79-71 upset over Nigeria, which helped move their ranking from No. 100 to No. 74 in the world. Thus, Groups A and C will return in the summer window. Nigeria and Mali are 2-1 and lead Group A, and Cote d&rsquo;Ivoire went 3-0 in November, sitting atop Group C. Groups B and D begin qualifying on Feb. 25 at Dakar Arena in Senegal, which will be three straight days of games through the 27th.
Tunisia&rsquo;s To Lose?: Tunisia went 10-2 in their World Cup qualifying for the 2019 tournament, and is expected to have similar production in group play here. Tunisia won the 2021 AfroBasket this past September, led by tournament MVP Makrem Romdhane, and All-Tournament guard Omar Abada. There&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/african-qualifiers/news/the-african-champions-are-ready-to-soar-in-dakar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also a chance star center Salah Mejri suits up for Tunisia</a>. The 7-foot-2 former Dallas Maverick <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/teams/tunisia/2019.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led Tunisia with 16.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game</a> in their second ever World Cup appearance three years ago.
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The Biggest What If: Tunisia plays Cameroon on Feb. 25. Cameroon is one of the many wild cards worth keeping tabs on. They still haven&rsquo;t been able to piece together the dream frontcourt of Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who hasn&rsquo;t played since the NBA bubble. <a href="https://www.libertyballers.com/2017/2/7/14539418/joel-embiid-named-cameroon-preliminary-roster-fiba-afrobasket-2017-luc-mbah-a-moute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Embiid came close in 2017</a>, but ultimately didn&rsquo;t play. Obviously, NBA players rarely can compete in these qualifying windows because of, well, them being in the NBA. But if Cameroon could do well enough and qualify, who knows if that&rsquo;ll be enough to lure Embiid and Siakam into international play.
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American Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Argentina (silver medalist), Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, USA, and Venezuela.
The Americas will, again, send seven to the World Cup late next year. The Americas have the standard format across the board, so this window will mark two games for each club. The groups are:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Argentina (7), Venezuela (17), Panama (50), Paraguay (77)</li>
<li>Group B: Brazil (15), Uruguay (41), Colombia (67), Chile (68)</li>
<li>Group C: Canada (18), Dominican Republic (20), U.S. Virgin Islands (54), Bahamas (62)</li>
<li>Group D: U.S.A. (1), Puerto Rico (19), Mexico (24), Cuba (65)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico are all 2-0. U.S.A. and Puerto Rico are the only 1-1 teams in the Americas, and will play each other on Tuesday in Washington D.C. Notably, for Team U.S.A., Jim Boylen coached the club in the November window, in which they held off Cuba 95-90, then lost to Mexico in Chihuahua City, 97-88. Although Cuba is 0-2, their star, Jaisel Rivero, is good enough to steal them a game. Rivero put 34 (13-18 shooting) with 9 rebounds and 3 threes on Team USA in their narrow loss. Rivero currently competes with Liga ACB and EuroCup&rsquo;s Valencia Basket in Spain, where he averages 11.1 points (second on team) and 4.9 rebounds (third on team) across all competitions.
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21 points for <a href="https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@isaiahthomas</a> last night, including 4 made threes, none bigger than this dagger. 👀 Team USA defeated Cuba 95-90 to start 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. They face Mexico tonight. 📹: <a href="https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82">https://t.co/nNQDfvcF82</a> (via FIBA) <a href="https://t.co/dhAUAUVHLy">pic.twitter.com/dhAUAUVHLy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465437069073858560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a>
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Uncle Iso Joe: Among <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/game/0407/Mexico-USA#|tab=boxscore">the notables who suited up for Team USA in November</a> were Isaiah Thomas, Luke Kornet, Chasson Randle, Haywood Highsmith and Shaquille Harrison, among many other current and former NBA players. Seven-time All-Star and 40-year-old Joe Johnson, who famously was a Boston Celtic briefly earlier this season, is <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/americas-qualifiers/news/nba-experience-leads-revamped-united-states-roster-for-second-window-of-2023-fiba-world-cup-americas-qualifiers">confirmed to be suiting up with Team USA</a> in this February window. Brian Bowen II is the only player returning from the November window. Other Team U.S.A. members include current G Leaguers Jordan Bell, David Stockton, Langston Galloway and Justin Wright-Foreman, among others.
La Nueva Era de Baloncesto: Both Mexico and Puerto Rico announced new head coaches shortly before the November window. Mexico&rsquo;s led by long-time NBA assistant Kaleb Caneles, while Puerto Rico hired Nelson Colon, who is a three-time champion and Coach of the Year in Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico&rsquo;s top pro basketball league. Former long-time NBA guard Carlos Arroyo was also appointed the <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/news/puerto-rico-appoints-carlos-arroyo-as-its-male-national-team-general-manager#:~:text=Americas-,Puerto%20Rico%20appoints%20Carlos%20Arroyo%20as%20its%20male%20National%20Team,of%20the%20men's%20national%20team.">Puerto Rican National Team&rsquo;s General Manager last June</a>.
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Both Puerto Rico and Mexico starting this cycle with new coaches, too: <a href="https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy">https://t.co/PCDaPmNumy</a>
&mdash; Bryan Fonseca 🇵🇷 (@BryanFonsecaNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1465151054278967302?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Asia-Oceania Region
2019 WC qualifiers: Australia (finished fourth), China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.
The hosts &ndash; Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia &ndash; typically automatically qualify for the World Cup. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171213161459/http:/www.philstar.com:8080/sports/2017/12/13/1767946/learning-2019-world-cup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indonesia&rsquo;s qualification is more provisional</a> due to their lack of international success. Japan and the Philippines are automatically in, but they&rsquo;re all scheduled to participate in World Cup qualifiers anyway.
In the 2019 World Cup, Asia/Oceania sent eight teams over, which they&rsquo;ll do again in 2023. Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: New Zealand (27), South Korea (30), Philippines (33), India (80)</li>
<li>Group B: Australia (3), China (29), Japan (37), Chinese Taipei (66)</li>
<li>Group C: Jordan (39), Lebanon (55), Indonesia (91), Saudi Arabia (79)</li>
<li>Group D: Iran (23),&nbsp;Kazakhstan (70), Syria (85), Bahrain (104)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Due to travel restrictions (COVID), <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/asian-qualifiers/news/update-to-the-fiba-basketball-world-cup-2023-asian-qualifiers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several games had to be canceled</a>, so while the format was originally the same as the Americas, it came with some modifications. No one in Group A has played yet, so they&rsquo;ll each play four games to compensate, all of which will take place between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28. In Group B, only China and Japan were able to play, and China smacked them twice, 79-63, and 106-73. Australia and Chinese Taipei are each scheduled to play three times between Feb. 25 and Feb. 28. Japan will play twice in this window, once against each of them, and China will return for four games in the third window to end round one.
Medal Momentum: This will mark the first we see of Australia since finally winning their first medal at the 2020 Olympics (that were played in 2021). Australia had lost the bronze medal game in the 1988, 1996, 2000 and 2016 Olympics before finally medaling in their fifth attempt. In their history, they&rsquo;ve never had a better World Cup finish than in 2019, where they lost in &hellip; another bronze medal game. Perhaps Australia is really turning a corner now. &nbsp;
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🥉 HISTORY MADE 🥉 The Boomers have done it- Australia have secured their first ever men&rsquo;s basketball Olympic medal! The bronze is coming home! 💚💛<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/ngxiYRwHdk">pic.twitter.com/ngxiYRwHdk</a>
&mdash; Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketballAus/status/1423988352987013120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2021</a>
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European Region&nbsp;
2019 WC qualifiers: Czech Republic, France (bronze medalist), Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain (gold medalist), Turkey.
Europe is the largest region of basketball playing powers here, so their rules are slightly different. Instead of four groups, there are eight. As a result, they&rsquo;ll get 12 World Cup bids.
Here are the groups:
<ul>
<li>Group A: Serbia (6), Latvia (26), Belgium (36), Slovakia (63)</li>
<li>Group B: Greece (10), Turkey (16), Great Britain (44), Belarus (48)</li>
<li>Group C: Slovenia (4), Croatia (21), Finland (35), Sweden (51)</li>
<li>Group D: Germany (11), Poland (13), Israel (42), Estonia (49)</li>
<li>Group E: France (5), Montenegro (25), Hungary (43), Portugal (58)</li>
<li>Group F: Lithuania (8), Czech Republic (12), Bosnia (45), Bulgaria (53)</li>
<li>Group G: Spain (2), Ukraine (32), Georgia (38), North Macedonia (52)</li>
<li>Group H: Italy (9), Russia (14), Netherlands (47), Iceland (46)</li>
</ul>
First Window Summary: Everyone here was able to play two games in November. Your 2-0 teams are as follows: Belgium, Slovenia, Israel, France, Lithuania, Bosnia, Spain and Russia. Your 0-2 teams are Netherlands, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Croatia and Slovakia. Czech Republic was a story from the 2019 World Cup. They shockingly punched above their weight and reached the quarterfinals. Czech Republic, led by Tom&aacute;&scaron; Satoransky, finished sixth, one spot above Team U.S.A. But, so far, they haven&rsquo;t won a game in 2023 qualifying. Czech Republic lost to Bosnia 97-90 and Lithuania 74-66. They should have a breakthrough against Bulgaria on the 24th, but it&rsquo;ll be difficult to set themselves up for a repeat of 2019, which was their first World Cup bid.
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The State of Spain: After winning the 2019 World Cup with an incredibly stacked team, including tournament MVP Ricky Rubio, captain Rudy Fern&aacute;ndez, Marc Gasol and Willy Hernang&oacute;mez, Spain was knocked out of the Olympic quarterfinals by the United States. Their Olympic team featured many of their same heavy-hitters, including even Pau Gasol, who retired in October and is now a member of the International Olympic Committee. Like the United States, many of the players you&rsquo;d expect to see on their World Cup roster <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Spain#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely won&rsquo;t participate much until then</a>. Even so, expect them to continue reigning as one of the top teams in the world. We could talk about the age factor around this time next year, perhaps.
The Sleeping Giant: Slovenia famously jumped 12 spots after their debut Olympic performance, largely led by Luka Dončić, accompanied by standout pro teammates Mike Tobey, Zoran (Goran&rsquo;s brother) Dragić,&nbsp;and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlatko_%C4%8Can%C4%8Dar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vlatko Čančar</a>. Slovenia finished fourth, losing to Australia in the bronze medal game. They didn&rsquo;t qualify for the 2019 World Cup, but did win the 2017 EuroBasket, in which Goran won MVP and Luka, at 18 years old, was named to the All-Tournament team. (Anthony Randolph played for the Slovenian team, then. Who knew?!?) Dragić and Tobey are <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/european-qualifiers/team/Slovenia#|tab=roster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed on the roster for this window</a>. Look for them to continue raising hell in qualifiers, and if Dončić suits up, in the World Cup, too.
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For even more World Cup info and complete schedules, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">go here</a>.
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Bryan Fonseca gives an overview of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Things to monitor as FIBA World Cup’s next qualifying window arrives

Aaron Gordon scored 24 points against his former team, rallying the Denver Nuggets past the Orlando Magic 119-109 Sunday night.
&ldquo;Those are my brothers, man,&rdquo; Gordon said, &ldquo;but business is business.&rdquo;
Gordon said he was proud of his team&rsquo;s resilience, evidenced by its 72-44 recovery in the second half.
&ldquo;A lot of teams that get down by 18 in the first half, they would just let go of the rope, they would just give up,&rdquo; Gordon argued.
Not these guys.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a testament," he said, &ldquo;to where this team can go.&rdquo;
Gordon scored Denver's first dozen points, then helped the Nuggets erase an 18-point halftime deficit for their 14th win in 17 games and their 10th straight over the Magic.
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24 points for Aaron Gordon. 10/13 from the field. The <a href="https://twitter.com/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nuggets</a> improve to 4-0 with <a href="https://twitter.com/Double0AG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Double0AG</a>! <a href="https://t.co/iCXoQiKdUL">pic.twitter.com/iCXoQiKdUL</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1379048704565518339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Poor offense, poor defense, poor effort,&rdquo; Denver coach Michael Malone said of his team's awful first half, which he called &ldquo;our worst half of the season.&rdquo;
Which was followed by a masterpiece.
&ldquo;It was great to see the comeback, but I'd rather see 48 minutes&rdquo; of that kind of basketball, Malone said.
Jamal Murray added 22 points and Michael Porter Jr. 20 for Denver, which got 17 points, 16 assists and nine rebounds from Nikola Jokic. Chuma Okeke and Terrence Ross led Orlando with 19 points each.
Rookie R.J. Hampton, who was dealt by Denver in the Gordon trade, scored 16 points, including Orlando's first seven.
&ldquo;It was definitely fun to see those guys and compete against those guys," Hampton said. &ldquo;They're a great basketball team.&rdquo;
Malone said before tip-off that he didn&rsquo;t have to give Gordon any advice about keeping his emotions in check going against his former team that dealt him to Denver last week after seven seasons in Orlando.
But he did admonish his team not to take Orlando lightly because they're a rebuilding team, one that's also riddled by injuries and illnesses.
&ldquo;If we think we can just show up because we&rsquo;re playing a team that doesn&rsquo;t have maybe a marquee name, we&rsquo;re going to find ourselves in a ballgame," Malone warned.
They sure did.
The Nuggets trailed by double digits for most of the first half, and after cutting their deficit to 54-47, they surrendered the final 11 points of the second quarter and trailed 65-47 at halftime.
Denver erased all of that in the third quarter before Ross put Orlando back on top 86-85 with a jumper in the closing seconds.
But the Nuggets pulled away in the final minutes for their fourth consecutive win since the big trade for Gordon.
TIP-INS
Magic coach Steve Clifford called his team&rsquo;s injury epidemic &ldquo;like nothing I&rsquo;ve ever been through before as a head coach or an assistant.&rdquo; Sidelined against Denver were: Cole Anthony (ribs), Michael Carter-Williams (non-COVID illness), Markelle Fultz (left ACL), Harris (strained left adductor), Karim Mane (hamstring) and Otto Porter Jr. (left foot). Limited were Chasson Randle (hamstring), James Ennis III (non-COVID-illness) and Mo Bamba (non-COVID illness).
Nuggets: The Nuggets played a video tribute to Harris in the second quarter, which earned him a standing ovation from the 4,050 fans at Ball Arena in the <a href="https://twitter.com/arniestapleton/status/1378914209774202883?s=20">first game open to the public</a> since before the pandemic hit last year (employees and front-line workers were at last game). Hampton, a rookie, got his video tribute later in the quarter. ... Denver was outshot in the first half 57 percent to 39 percent.
UP NEXT
Magic: Hosts the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Nuggets: Host the Detroit Pistons and former teammates Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee on Tuesday night.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Gordon scored Denver's first dozen points, then helped the Nuggets erase an 18-point halftime deficit for their 14th win in 17 games.

Aaron Gordon on win over Magic: 'Those are my brothers, but business is business'

100 miles and running.
That&rsquo;s what life&rsquo;s been like for Orlando Magic point guard Chasson Randle since he signed a two-way contract with the team a month ago, in a wild succession of events over a small period of time.&nbsp;
Originally arriving to the Orlando G League Bubble as a member of the OKC Blue under the Thunder umbrella, Randle&rsquo;s stay at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex was much more short-lived than others. Following a 22-point performance in a close loss to the G League Ignite, Randle and the Blue were set to take on the Canton Charge on Feb. 14.
Preparing to take his pregame nap, he got a call from his agent, Darrell Comer. Randle found out that he would be playing for the Magic. He had the option to suit up one more time for OKC, but was suggested not to do so in order to avoid the risk of injury.
&ldquo;Initially I was surprised because I knew they had just signed Frank Mason and I hadn't heard of any injuries that he had,&rdquo; Randle told BasketballNews.com in an exclusive phone interview. &ldquo;I was grateful that another opportunity was coming my way and was excited and didn't end up taking my pregame nap. It was pretty cool to get that call.&rdquo;
Despite his new affiliation, Randle didn&rsquo;t spend any time with the Lakeland Magic before joining the big club. So no, he didn&rsquo;t get any rings or hardware when the team took home the G League title last week.
&ldquo;I had spoke with one of their assistant coaches when I was leaving the bubble and when I was coming to the team, and he was like, &lsquo;I hope we don't have to see you,&rsquo;&rdquo; Randle said with a laugh. &ldquo;I'm glad they came out with the victory in the championship and I won't take any credit. I couldn't do that.&rdquo;
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Prior to latching on with Orlando, the last time Randle stepped foot on an NBA floor was March 10, 2020 for the Golden State Warriors. Nearly a year later, he was back in the Association, and it didn&rsquo;t take long for him to find that out. In his first game, Randle was assigned the task of guarding his former teammate Derrick Rose. The next night? Stephen Curry.
&ldquo;It's like that was my moment of, 'Hey, you've got two of the league's best point guards ever in front of you. We're back,'&rdquo; Randle chuckled.
&ldquo;I think first, it's just realizing that it's a process. Everything is not going to go perfect. Control the things that I can control, and that's my energy and effort and intensity out there on the floor, and then following the team's game plan. I think once you can hone in on those things, the basketball just becomes the basketball. You play instinctively and try to make plays when you're out there. That's kind of how I approached it.&rdquo;
In 11 games with the Magic, Randle has recorded multiple assists in eight contests, including five or more dimes in three of those. Despite not getting too many touches, he ranks fourth in the NBA in assist-to-usage rate with a 1.51 ratio, <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4180#tab-offensive_overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per Cleaning The Glass</a>.&nbsp;
Remember, this is a man who was just thrown into the fire right away -- leaving the G League bubble, getting acclimated to a new organization, figuring out a fresh system with different plays and teammates -- all the while having to abide by the league&rsquo;s strict health and safety protocols.
&ldquo;First, it's like, 'Just play hard man, and let the rest take care of itself.' Just trying to pick up everything and learn,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;It's the NBA though, this is a job. You have to be ready, prepared, and take advantage of every opportunity you get.
&ldquo;Even [during the] All-Star break I was able to catch my breath a little bit. But I stayed in Orlando, and the way that things were set up with us having to test every day, I didn't want to risk anything, so I stayed here and got some extra work in with the staff and stuff. So it was cool. Very fortunate man, just blessed to be in this position.&rdquo;
Randle&rsquo;s teammate and fellow member of the Orlando guard room, Michael Carter-Williams, can&rsquo;t say enough about how ready Randle has been for the team.
"He's definitely taken full advantage of his opportunity,&rdquo; Carter-Williams told BasketballNews.com, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-michael-carter-williams-orlando-magic-steve-clifford-injuries-2013-rookie-of-the-year-philadelphia-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">following an interview for his own profile</a>. &ldquo;He got called up at a time where he was gonna be playing right away. He was ready, he was in shape. He picked up the plays quickly, spent time learning them at a fast pace. He's been great for us, and we're gonna continue to need him. You can just tell before he came in that his preparation was great, so I'm glad all that's paying off for him.&rdquo;
"I'm definitely grateful for his comments,&rdquo; Randle said in response to Carter-Williams&rsquo; praise. &ldquo;He's been super helpful for me [with] just learning the system, what the coach wants from his point guards and the way that they want to play. He's helped me with the plays and everything, so he's been great for me. I mean, for him to be Rookie of the Year and then to go through what he's been through in his career, it just shows what type of player, what type of person he is, his determination. He's turned himself into one of the best defenders in the league man, and he's definitely somebody that I pay attention to and watch in practice and try to pick up little things from. He sets the blueprint for what a guard can be defensively. He's great."
Randle and Carter-Williams are both playing extended minutes as Orlando continues to be on the mend. From the moment the season tipped off, the organization has been riddled with injuries, particularly to the upstart young backcourt of Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony. Such setbacks have decimated the roster and led to ever-changing rotations. Whether it&rsquo;s been due to the scheduling or demand of the season, Randle admits he&rsquo;s never been in a scenario with this many of his teammates sidelined.
This would be a difficult situation to figure out for anybody on that squad, so for somebody who&rsquo;s spent a month there? It&rsquo;s even extra challenging. Randle is still studying the coverages that head coach Steve Clifford has in place defensively, and he&rsquo;s also got an All-Star big man teammate in Nikola Vucevic that commands the ball as the focal point of the offense.
&ldquo;He demands a lot of attention,&rdquo; said Randle, who once played with a similar player in Joel Embiid when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2017. &ldquo;The system here is set up to feed the post and all of that. It wasn't an adjustment, but it was pretty cool to have that as a weapon on your team.
&ldquo;Just trying to figure out how I can best help him get the ball and put him in positions. It doesn't matter where he's getting it, he's getting a bucket. But as teams hone in on him and key on him, just trying to make it a little bit easier on him and then spacing the floor, like being an option for him as an outlet if he gets in trouble and needs to kick it out. Being ready to shoot and knock one down for him.&rdquo;
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Though Vucevic is doing everything he possibly can to contribute to winning, he and the Magic are on a sizable skid, dropping eight straight games and plummeting in the Eastern Conference standings. It&rsquo;s going to take more than one player to snap out of this funk.
&ldquo;I think the onus is gonna be on us to pull ourselves up out of it. We've got to want it. We can't get used to this feeling, losing,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;It's not gonna be easy. Even with the injuries, nobody's gonna feel sorry for us -- this is the NBA -- but it's gotta be us. We've just gotta hone in on the little things we need to defensively and continue to play the way we need to play offensively. Take care of the ball, and we'll be good.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think getting guys back will be helpful and hopefully, we can make some type of push towards giving ourselves a chance to play for something at the end of the season."
Ask Randle about how he&rsquo;s performed since he made the jump to Orlando and he&rsquo;ll say he&rsquo;s done pretty well. He&rsquo;ll tell you that he&rsquo;s showcased his ability to shoot the ball and run the offense by getting others involved. Defensively, he believes his intensity has been there and that he's been in the right positions to guard the ball. While it sounds cliche, he wants to improve in every facet in every single game.
&ldquo;It's not one thing that I don't think I can do better. I'm the type of guy that doesn't want to settle,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;I look to stay aggressive on both ends. I think that's gonna be key, especially with the attention that some of our players are getting on the offensive end. And then defensively, just making sure that I'm a presence. That's something that I want to continue to do. I'm excited for [this week].
&ldquo;Each game is like a new opportunity. It's like a new life. You play video games, you might win a round or you might lose a round, but you get that new life and an opportunity to do it again. I'm excited for the rest of what's ahead."
Randle began this basketball season with OKC in the G League, teaming up with promising talents such as Aleksej Pokusevski, Moses Brown and Omer Yurtseven (&ldquo;Their potential and upside is tremendous, especially with the size and length they have as players,&rdquo; he adds). Randle is grateful that the Thunder presented him with an opportunity to get back into the gym, work out with talented players and be a part of a positive environment.
He even got the chance to take on top-projected 2021 NBA Draft Class prospects in Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga (&ldquo;Their talent spoke for itself...they definitely proved their worth," he said).
But as we make our way into spring, Randle has returned to the highest level for his fifth stint in the NBA. Recently, the league announced amendments to its two-way contract rules, allowing players who are those deals to play an unlimited number of games in the 2020-21 season.&nbsp;
Randle is included in that field of players. Two-way contracts are only a partial guarantee financially, and sometimes, the same goes for a roster spot. With the trade deadline approaching, and when the team gets healthier, things could change. Only time will tell.&nbsp;
Whatever the case turns out to be for him personally, Randle won&rsquo;t change the way he handles his business.
"The way I live my life man, I never really bank on anything. I don't ever just want to relax and feel complacent,&rdquo; Randle said. &ldquo;I know that every day I have to prove myself. I'll just have to continue to play hard and be myself and try to contribute in any way I can to help this team win games, and the rest will take care of itself.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Whether it's a guaranteed contract, non-guaranteed, whatever, I just try to keep my head down, work hard, be me, play a certain way and let the chips fall where they may."

Spencer Davies chats with Chasson Randle about his fit with Orlando, his short-lived experience in the G League Bubble and more.

Chasson Randle's life has been '100 miles and running' since joining Magic

With training camps starting in a week, the NBA's 2020 free-agency period has moved very quickly. Nearly all of the marquee free agents are off the board, aside from Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram (RFA). However, both stars are expected to re-sign.
On Day 5, who are the top remaining free agents at each position?&nbsp;
GUARDS: Reggie Jackson, Shabazz Napier, Quinn Cook, Shaquille Harrison, Evan Turner, Dion Waiters, Marco Belinelli, Emmanuel Mudiay, Yogi Ferrell, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Jeremy Lin, Jordan McLaughlin (RFA), Chris Chiozza, Thabo Sefolosha, Jordan McRae (RFA), Courtney Lee, Troy Daniels, Brandon Knight, Andre Roberson, Allonzo Trier, Ky Bowman, Gary Payton II, Naz Mitrou-Long, Treveon Graham, Ian Clark, Marcus Georges-Hunt, Frank Mason, Ty Lawson, Shabazz Muhammad, J.R. Smith, Chasson Randle
FORWARDS: Anthony Davis, Nicolas Batum, Frank Kaminsky, Glenn Robinson III, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Wilson Chandler, Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, John Henson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Taj Gibson, Jared Dudley, Ersan Ilyasova, Bruno Caboclo, Lance Stephenson, Kenneth Faried, Kenrich Williams, Anthony Tolliver, Cheick Diallo, Dante Cunningham, Donatas Motiejunas, Justin Anderson
CENTER: Hassan Whiteside, Kyle O'Quinn, Ian Mahinmi, Noah Vonleh, Skal Labissiere, Tyson Chandler, Thon Maker, Kosta Koufos, Andrew Bogut, Caleb Swanigan, Ekpe Udoh, Miles Plumlee
Who would you like your favorite team to add? Leave a comment below.

Here's a position-by-position look at the top players who remain unsigned on Day 6 of NBA free agency.

Chasson

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Which NBA free agents are still available?