Game Recap: Rising Stars Challenge
By Mathew Huff
Murray shined in the Rising Stars Challenge.
The Rising Stars Challenge was a high scoring affair and both of our young Denver Nuggets shined.
Ernie Johnson on TNT put it perfectly,” He had a quiver of arrows.” Nikola Jokic finished with a double-double which showed him grabbing 11 rebounds, scoring 12 points, and having 8 assists.
However, the man of the night was the Nuggets rookie, Jamal Murray. Murray won the game’s MVP after posting an incredible 36 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Denver Nuggets
He is the first Denver Nuggets rookie to win the contest’s MVP since current Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried won it a while ago. Both Jokic and Murray dazzled fans after helping the World Team prevail over the U.S.A. Team 150-141. The young Nuggets combined for 17 points in the first half, but Murray exploded in the second half.
The game was very close for the entire game and D’Angelo Russell amazed spectators as he put on a show for the U.S.A. squad. Jamal got the majority of his points from beyond the arc as he hit 10 shots from deep range. He even looked like a Steph Curry clone on the floor at one point as he hit a shot from a couple feet behind the 3-point line.
Jokic seemed to mesh very well with his European counterpart, Kristaps Porzingis, as both players were very solid for the World Team. There didn’t seem to be any ego issues as the pair actually produced efficient numbers while on the floor together.
This goes to show just how classy and un-selfish both of these players happen to be.
Both teams put on a show as it is now abundantly clear that the NBA has a bright future with a ton of young talent that will take the league by storm in a few years.
And, our Nuggets, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, will be spearheading that particular effort.