National Basketball Association

Barton leads Nuggets past Grizzlies

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:40 a.m. ET

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Will Barton always looks forward to playing in FedExForum. It was his home court when he starred at the University of Memphis.

But until Wednesday night, he had never played particularly well here as a pro.

"I do put pressure on myself when I come here," Barton said after scoring 25 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 109-105 victory as they held off a late charge from the Memphis Grizzlies. "I know my son (Wyatt, almost 2 years old) is here watching and all my friends and family. I just want to play well for them."

Even on Wednesday, it did not start all that well for Barton. He missed the three shots he took in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers. But he went 3-for-4 and 2-for-2 from long range in the second quarter in scoring 13 points. His final line: 6-for-12 from the floor, 4-for-7 from behind the arc, 9-for-12 at the foul line, six rebounds, three assists, and a block.

"I kind of found my rhythm," he said. "I was just staying aggressive, and trying to play within myself."

Denver led by as many as 20 points, going up 77-57 with 4:24 left in the third quarter. The Grizzlies finally got the lead down to single digits, at 102-93, when Vince Carter (9 points) hit a 3-pointer with 2:58 left to play. The Grizzlies pulled to within four, at 104-100, when Lance Stephenson (12 points) made a putback with 45.7 seconds to go.

A pair of Barton free throws put Denver up six again, but Matt Barnes (6 points and 11 rebounds) hit a trey with 3.9 seconds left to make it 108-105. Another Barton free throw completed the scoring.

"We were just too late," Stephenson said of the comeback.

The Grizzlies (41-34) never had a lead in the game and dug an early hole by falling 16 points behind in the second quarter. Beset by injuries, they lost their fourth straight and their magic number for clinching a playoff spot remained at three. With a tough schedule ahead, they may not be able to hang on to the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.

"We need every game we can get," said power forward Zach Randolph, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with an ankle sprain and scored a game-high 26 points. "We just gotta keep battling. We gotta a lot of young guys, a lot of new guys. We're playing hard. We know what's at stake."

The Nuggets (32-44) had much less at stake but for most of the game didn't play that way.

"We're just trying to finish out strong," said forward Darrell Arthur, who had 12 points with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. "We played with energy from the start."

The Nuggets shot 48.7 percent from the floor while going 13-for-29 from 3-point range for 44.8 percent. Rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 17 points and five assists. JaKarr Sampson and Joffrey Lauvergne each scored 12 points and center Nikola Jokic had nine points with 14 rebounds.

Memphis shot 43.2 percent from the field and was 6-for-19 from behind the arc for 31.6 percent. The Grizzlies were just 17-for-27 from the foul line for 63 percent.

Point guard Jordan Farmar had 14 points and five assists for Memphis and forward JaMychal Green scored 13 points with 12 rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger knows as well as anyone that with the remaining seven games including two with Golden State, a visit from the Toronto Raptors on Friday, and a game at the Los Angeles Clippers, this one feels like one that got away.

"I don't know if we had to get this one," Joerger said, "but I felt like we played a little tight early."

NOTES: One indication of just how injured the Grizzlies are came through coach Dave Joerger's radio as he was driving to the arena Wednesday night. "The tease for tonight was, 'Come down to FedExForum and see JaMychal Green's Grizzlies against Will Barton's Nuggets,'" Joerger said. "You know, things are different." ... Barton, who played for the University of Memphis, is averaging 14.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He was also the answer to a trivia question Denver coach Michael Malone put to the team. "Who is our leading defensive rebounder?" Malone said. "Everybody assumes it would be a big man. Our leading defensive rebounder is Will Barton. He's willing to go in there and attack the defensive glass and ignite our break." ... Grizzlies PF Zach Randolph returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained ankle. ... Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic missed a second straight game because of illness.