Denver Nuggets’ starting five powers through Suns

The Denver Nuggets disposed of the Phoenix Suns in their home opener.

With this in mind, the heroes for the Denver Nuggets in this particular game were the starting five. All five starters scored in double figures and Nikola Jokic was the player of the game as he racked up an insane stat line.

Jokic finished with an outstanding 35 points on an incredible 11 for 11 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds and 11 assists giving him a triple double. Not to mention, he showed great defensive flashes as he finished with four steals and one block while limiting the first overall pick in Deandre Ayton to five points on 28.6% shooting.

The cherry on top for Jokic was he finished with a player differential of +29 and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only two players in NBA history to have 10 assists, 10 rebounds and 30 or more points without missing a field goal.

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Denver already looks like a very improved defensive unit from last season even though it has only been two games.

They have not allowed 100 points in a game yet (91 points in 119-91 win) which will be a good confidence booster as they carry this momentum into the next game which will be against defending champion, Golden State. Devin Booker had 25 points, but had a differential of -24. Paul Millsap‘s presence is already paying dividends on the defensive end as he got another double double and recorded two blocks and one steal.

Jamal Murray was able to bounce back after a lack luster season debut. He finished with the second highest scoring total of 26 points, five assists and two steals. Murray also finished tied for the second team high box plus/minus of an extremely high +37. Millsap had the highest player differential of an incredible +38.

Harris was also solid as he finished with an efficient 18 points and did his thing on defense coming away with two steals and one block. The one scare of the night though is that Will Barton went down with a hip injury in the third quarter. He will most likely be out going forward.

It was great to see the starting five all play well and get a big win in the home opener at the Pepsi Center. Now, the Nuggets will turn their attention to a much tougher opponent, the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

The Nuggets will have a tough test as they look to remain undefeated on the back end of a back to back.