The Nuggets got a big road win on Friday night over the Hawks, 134-133, but not after a disastrous first half that had the team reeling. There was a player who recorded a triple-double in the first half, but it was not Nikola Jokic; it was Jalen Johnson of Atlanta. The Joker actually had his worst half in a while, scoring just 10 points on 2-13 shooting.
Everything was going wrong for Denver, and the team trailed 71-48 in the final minutes of the first half. But everything changed after recess, and the Joker led his team all the way back for the win. He finished with 40 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, shooting 11-13 in the second half.
On top of the turnaround by Jokic, the Nuggets completely ramped up their defense in the second half and got a great stint from a non-Jokic unit, going on a big run with Nikola off the floor to start the fourth quarter. Cam Johnson hit three massive threes during that run, and once Jokic returned, it was a tight game again.
The bench was great as well, chipping in 40 much-needed points for the Nuggets. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way with 17, Bruce Brown had 13, and Jonas Valanciunas tallied 8 of his own.
Nuggets playing elite basketball away from home
Despite the awful start in Atlanta on Friday night, Denver has now won a franchise-best nine straight road games. It’s incredibly bizarre to see a team that regularly benefits from one of the best homecourt advantages in the league struggling so mightily at Ball Arena while playing so well on the road.
They’ve lost their last four games at home, some very ugly results, putting up little to no defensive resistance against some teams that should not be coming into Denver and winning. At the same time, it’s hard to really say the team is in a slump when they’re going through the hottest stretch of away games in the team’s history.
It’s very strange, and there’s no clear explanation at the moment. Ideally, they can figure things out at home and get back on track while sustaining this newfound road warrior mentality. They’ve got the depth and the studs to do it, and if they can put it all together, they should be able to win 60 games this season.