What drama in Denver! In the clash of the two best NBA centers and the derby for second place in the West, the Nuggets, on their muscle and after overtime, defeated the excellent Houston Rockets, in a match where Jokić had to leave the court a minute and a half before the end due to 6 personal fouls, and the scoreboard ultimately showed 128:125!
An exhausting match between the second-best offense (Denver) and the best defense (Houston) in the league, which is confirmed by the fact that both home centers, Nikola Jokić and Jonas Valančiūnas, had to go to the bench due to fouls, which almost finished off the Nuggets because Watson got injured in the first quarter and did not return to the game until the end of the match.
However, none of this prevented the Serbian national team player from delivering another brilliant performance in which he scored 39 points (shot 13-27, 5-9 for three), had 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season.
Jokić missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation time, but he invested every last atom of strength in overtime, which his team won in a dramatic finish, where the Turk Şengün missed a three-pointer for the tie.
Murray was excellent for Denver with 35 points (5as), and Hardaway and Johnson with 13, and Jones with 11, also had good performances.
For the guests, Şengün was better than the rest, also achieving a triple-double with 33 points and 10 caught and 10 passed balls. Durant scored 25 (7as, 5reb, 5 blocks!), while Smith (10reb, 4as) and Okogie both scored 16.
This victory cemented Denver’s 2nd place in the Western Conference with a 19-6 record, while the loss cost Houston the third place and dropped them to the fifth position with 16-7.
The Nuggets play their next game at home on Thursday against Orlando, and then the Rockets come to visit again, which will be an opportunity for them to get revenge for tonight’s tough defeat.
Author: Antonije Kovačević Photo: Imagn Images : ddp USA : Profimedia
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