Denver clinched 3rd place in the West in the final round of the NBA season with a victory in a duel against strong San Antonio (118:118), but that is not exactly a reason for excessive joy!
Namely, a great challenge awaits Jokić and the Nuggets already in the opening round of the playoffs in the form of the awkward Minnesota, which has already defeated the team from Colorado 3 times this year.
However, if they beat them in a series to 4 wins, the Nuggets avoid the champion Oklahoma and will most likely face tonight’s rival, San Antonio, whom they have beaten 3 times this year, all within the last two and a half months.
With this game, Nikola Jokić fulfilled the 65-game bonus to be a full candidate for the MVP title, but he played only one half, just enough to secure the victory.
And in those 18 minutes, he managed to score 23 points (7-12 shooting), grabbed 8 rebounds, and had only 1 assist(!), which is certainly a historical fact.
In the winning team, the most efficient was Strawther with 25 points (6reb, 3ast), while good performances were provided by Valanciunas (16p, 11reb), Roddy (15p, 13reb), and rookie Jones (13p, 5reb, 3ast, 4-4 for three).
For the Texans, in the absence of Wembanyama, the best were Fox with 24 (6reb, 5ast), Vassell (19p), and Johnson (18p, 6reb).
In the final standings, Denver is in 3rd position with a 54-28 record, San Antonio is second in the West with 62-20 and the greatest improvement in history, with 28 more wins than last season.
The playoffs begin next weekend, and the play-in starts as early as Tuesday with the matches Charlotte-Miami and Phoenix-Portland.
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Author: Antonije Kovačević Photo: AFP