The Denver Nuggets have tied their win total from last season, with 33 wins, as they use big games from Will Barton and Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets are for real. Although the Clippers were without two of their top 3 players (Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan), the Nugget were short-handed as well. Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, and Darell Arthur were all out. That being said, the Nuggets were able to use their size to their advantage. Nikola Jokic added his 5th triple-double of the season, and Mason Plumlee added his 5th double-double as a Nugget.
Will Barton has finally returned to the player he was last season. After adding 22 points in Monday’s victory over the Lakers, Barton topped that performance. He added 35 points on 67% shooting and 70% from three. His 35 points were a career-high. There isn’t a better time that Barton could bounce back from the bad slump he was having. The Nuggets are approaching their playoff push and have to win big games, like tonight’s, to hold the 8th and final playoff spot in the West.
Nikola Jokic is the Nuggets best player and he definitely didn’t disappoint tonight. Jokic was able to add his 5th triple-double of the year. That is tied for the most triple-doubles by a center in a season, in over 20 years. He added 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists in 30 minutes. The Nuggets have yet to lose when Nikola Jokic adds a triple-double.
Offensively, the Nuggets were great. They scored 129 points, but they allowed the Clippers to go off in the second half. The Nuggets were outscored in the fourth quarter by eight points and Michael Malone didn’t like it.
A disappointed Michael Malone postgame: "We'll take it. Our defense was awful....Our defense took a big step back tonight." pic.twitter.com/7WmvaXQRMJ
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 17, 2017
As pointed out in the video, from Harrison Wind of BSN Denver, Malone believed the defense took
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a big step back opposed to how they had been playing recently. Before tonight, the Nuggets had held their opponents to 101 or less 4 out of the last 5 games, winning all games in which they did that. The Nuggets allowed the Clippers to have 68 second half points on over 60% shooting. The defense was very reminiscent of the Nuggets before they traded for Mason Plumlee. The defense has improved significantly since the trade, but it wasn’t great tonight.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nuggets spent the next few days focused solely on defense. Defense is very important now, especially with the next two games coming against the Rockets, who are known for their great shooting. The Denver Nuggets will have one day off before playing the Rockets on Saturday, a game that will prove how serious these Nuggets are about making the playoffs or not.