Nikola Jokic hasn’t been scoring as much as we’re used to so far this season, but the 3-time MVP definitely still has his fastball when he needs it.
Jokic finished with 34 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists and 4 steals, and dominated the Kings on the way to a 130-124 Nuggets win.
Christian Braun added 21 points. Aaron Gordon tallied 20 points and 7 rebounds. Bruce Brown had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. In his return to Denver, Russell Westbrook played a great game, finishing with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
Here’s what else stood out from the game.
Russell Westbrook’s return
Westbrook was a key rotation piece for the Nuggets last season and played a big hand in helping the Nuggets advance past the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs and take the Thunder to seven games. He was back in Denver for the first time tonight since signing with the Kings and clearly wanted to take it to his former team.
Nuggets coach David Adelman called Westbrook the “most consistent energy guy” he’s ever been around, and Westbrook had a Kings high 16 points in the first half. The Nuggets did give Westbrook a classy tribute video during the game and he got a standing ovation from the Ball Arena crowd.
The offense cooks
The Nuggets scored 72 points in the first half, including 39 in the first quarter. Jokic had 18 points and 6 assists at halftime and Aaron Gordon added 15 points. As a team, the Nuggets shot 24 3-pointers (Denver only hit 8).
Adelman continues to tinker and experiment with the Nuggets rotations and in tonight’s first half went to an all-bench lineup for the first time this season. It didn’t go great.
Denver was -7 in the non-Jokic minutes prior to halftime.
Vintage Christian Braun
Braun hasn’t looked like himself on offense so far this season but did against Sacramento. Braun finished with over 20 points for the first time this season.
He loked like his vintage self from last season too. Great finishes around the rim off of Jokic feeds — he shot 7-10 overall — and Braun sunk a 3 too to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
