The Nuggets scored one of their most impressive victories of the young season, beating the Golden State Warriors at home, 119-115. It didn’t always look pretty, but the Nuggets played well in spurts and turned it on in crunch time, looking like a vintage version of the team that won a championship.
Denver got down by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter but mounted a clutch comeback, led by none other than Nikola Jokic. The Joker was brilliant throughout the game, putting up 38 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.
But perhaps just as importantly, it was Jokic’s teammates making huge plays down the stretch; Michael Porter Jr. made some big shots, Aaron Gordon knocked down some clutch free throws, Christian Braun dove on the floor to secure the biggest loose ball of the game, and Jamal Murray even came through with some monstrous defensive plays.
Nuggets fail to advance to NBA Cup knockout round
Despite the big win, it wasn’t enough to vault the Nuggets into the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. Denver finished group play with a 2-2 record and a +6 point differential, but they would have needed to win at least one more game to advance.
Even with the loss, the Warriors won Group C with a 3-1 record in group play and the Mavericks won the Western Conference’s wild card spot with a 3-1 record and a point differential of +46. The other West teams to advance to the knockout round are the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Nuggets trending in the right direction
While losing the NBA Cup is a bummer, it’s far from a big deal. Getting the team’s regular season back on track is a much bigger deal and this is a huge step in the right direction. The Nuggets are finally healthy and they need the lineups to start rounding into shape.
This game was far from perfect; there were blown leads and lulls, especially while Jokic was on the bench - the team was -19 in the 8 minutes he sat. But overall, this felt like the Nuggets of old and nothing was more encouraging than their performance down the stretch when the game was on the line.