BROOKLYN, N.Y. — With the Nuggets trailing by three points late in the third quarter Sunday afternoon, Jerami Grant stood open at the 3-point line, caught a sharp pass from Jamal Murray, stepped into a clean look and … shot an airball that missed the mark so badly, it nearly whacked Nikola Jokic in the head as it caromed violently off the backboard.



Thankfully for Denver, the cover-your-eyes attempt didn’t deter Grant from continuing to fire away. The 6-foot-8 forward nailed 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range, putting the Nuggets in position to win a game they might have capitalized on had they not let Spencer Dinwiddie blaze a permanent path to the bucket in Denver’s 105-102 loss, its fourth in five games.



Another strong night from Grant — he’s averaging 12 points and shooting 46 percent from 3-point range in his past six games — coincided with an increasingly rare sight for Denver: an extended run of minutes for its...