Jokic wills Nuggets to third-straight win

[Elite_video_player id=”39″]

The Denver Nuggets came into  STAPLES Center to play the Los Angeles Lakers attempting to extend their winning streak to three games. They came away with another offensive explosion beating the Lakers 127-121 giving the Denver Nuggets sole possession of the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a record of 17-23.

The story was largely the same. The Nuggets offense, directed like a symphony by Nikola Jokic, put up gaudy numbers and the Nuggets were able to score in any way they saw fit. Kenneth Faried continued getting wide-open looks at the rim and finished the night with 20 points on 9-10 shooting from the field. Will Barton also got involved in the offensive explosion contributing 26 points, four rebounds, and a career-high eight assists. Denver’s defense was still awful as they allowed the Lakers to score 121 themselves but the Nuggets still escaped Los Angeles with a much-needed win on the back of Jokic.

The Nuggets played the majority of the game from the driver’s seat. At one point they extended their lead to 19 and were seemingly cruising to an easy win but the timely shooting of Nick Young and Lou Williams combined with Ivica Zubac‘s 11 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks closed the gap. The Nuggets began to slide and the lead fell all the way to one singular point at one moment in the fourth quarter. The main reason that the Nuggets stayed afloat was Jokic willing the team to a win in combination with Wilson Chandler‘s aggressive play. Chandler finished with 14 points and six rebounds but also added four blocks.

Jokic has blossomed before our eyes. Even his biggest fans could not have seen the scoring of Jokic being so polished and effortless. Jokic now has 59 points in his last two games on 61 percent shooting from the field and is showing that he has the talent and is able to be the number one scoring option no the Nuggets. He was scoring in every way imaginable. Against the Lakers, Jokic finished with 29 points, 15 rebounds, one assist, and three blocks. He looked like the heart and soul of the team tonight and the Nuggets relied on him to carry them to victory and he did just that.

A great example was in the fourth quarter against the Lakers. It was Los Angeles that was playing with all of the momentum. Lou Williams hit two three-pointers and had 13 points in the final frame while the Nuggets offense stalled as they continued settling for jump shots. Jokic single handily kept the Nuggets afloat but gobbling up offensive rebounds and getting put-back lay-ups. Jokic had an insane five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone that bailed out the Nuggets offense while Jokic contributed six points of his own. This has been easily the best stretch of basketball in Jokic’s short career but it seems to be just the beginning of what he can do.

What’s next

The Nuggets have one day before they fly to Texas to take on the San Antonio Spurs to finish up a stretch of three games in four nights.