Jusuf Nurkic wakes sleeping giant LeBron James in Cavaliers victory over Nuggets

THE RUNDOWN

Let’s start with Scott Hastings explaining to the viewers at home how the team can maintain the momentum from their road win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Oh man, @ScottHastings killing it here with a Tommy Boy reenactment on @AltitudeTV pregame! #Nuggets #momentum pic.twitter.com/ZKB7L0p7h2

— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) March 21, 2016

Hastings provided most of the laughs pregame as the Nuggets got clobbered by the Cavaliers tonight, 124-91. 

First Quarter: 

-Nuggets going with starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, JaKarr Sampson, Darrell Arthur and Nikola Jokic.

-The Cavaliers changed it up a bit from their Heat loss by starting: Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Channing Frye and Timofey Mozgov. Kevin Love is out with a sickness and Iman Shumpert will come off the bench — replacing them is Frye and Mozzy.

–9:15 mark: Good sign for Denver as Nikola Jokic is active tonight — running the break and getting a bucket here on a pump fake and floater on Mozgov. This will be a hard match up for Timo if Nikola is running things out of the high-post — Jokic’s quickness and ability to play in space are a perfect skill set vs. Mozgov.

-4:55 mark: Frye hits another three and is now 2-3 from deep for 8 points. The Cavs are up 19-11 and the Nuggets need to regroup quickly. A turnover on the other end for Denver, not good. Jusuf Nurkic checks into the game for Jokic, Malone sticking with Nurkic as backup center with Faried out, we should see some Joffrey Lauvergne at power forward.

-3:08 mark: Nurkic drops a defensive rebound off a Matt Dellavedova missed layup, Delly gets the ball back and steps out to the corner and hits a three. That’s rough. 26-13 Cavaliers.

–0:43 mark: LeBron blows past Arthur for a layup-and-1 to make it 35-18. Michael Malone has a lineup of: D.J. Augustin, Will Barton, Arthur, Joffrey and Nurkic. Arthur is physically similar to LeBron, but it’s an impossible match up for him with LBJ’s speed.

End of first quarter, 38-23 Cavs. Cleveland shoots a blistering 5-7 from 3-point land (71.4 percent) and 60.9 percent from the field. Denver goes 2-3 from deep (66.7 percent), but shoots just 40 percent from the field. Nuggets winning the turnover battle 5-2, but it has not been a positive factor thus far.

Second Quarter: 

–11:23 mark: Richard Jefferson is now in and hits a three to make it 41-25, Cavs to open the second. Cavs are now 6-8 from deep… a 18-6 advantage from 3-point land.

–7:03 mark: With LeBron on the bench, the Nuggets are making a serious run. Augustin finds Nurkic here and Jusuf puts it down with authority. Now 41-37 Cavaliers.

–5:53 mark: Tyronn Lue gets King James back into the game in a hurry as the lead is evaporating. But LeBron gets a rude awakening upon his return as Nurkic swats him at the rim on the floater attempt. (See plays of the game for the video below.) Nuggets take a brief lead at 43-41. 

–2:26 mark: Cavs on an 11-2 run to retake the lead… Gary Harris misses a three, Nuggets get a steal, but Harris misses the floater on the offensive end. Mozgov gets a dunk and it’s 54-44 Cavs. 

End of second, 56-48 Cavs. Denver won the quarter 25-18 and had it at 20-7 at one point, but once LeBron came back in they finished on a 11-5 run and retook the flow of the game. Nurkic was brilliant in his 14 minutes of action going 3-3 from the field for 7 points (1-4 from the foul line) to go along with 3 blocks and 3 rebounds. Malone may need to play Juka a bunch in the second half, ride that hot hand. 

Third Quarter: 

DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME OR HAS MICHAEL MALONE GONE WITH NIKOLA JOKIC AND JUSUF NURKIC?!? JaKarr is out with a shoulder injury, so Nurkic gets the nod. This is going to be a fun few minutes. 

Jokic feeds Nurkic. Nurkic tries to feed Jokic. They fight for the same rebound.

ALL THE SIZE!

— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) March 22, 2016

A few possessions later, Nurkic finds Jokic with the pretty inside pass. This is the kind of play that these two can form together. They don’t look too comfortable on the floor together, which can be expected as the two have grown used to operating as the singular centers on the floor.

Here were a couple issues I noticed with the two in the game, issues I was worried about:

Frye just blew by Jokic in the corner on the shot fake. Nurkic swats it at the rim, but gets called for the foul. Tough call.

— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) March 22, 2016

Jokic will have a tough time guarding guys out on the perimeter as the 32 year-old Frye proved on the play described above. Offseason weight training and conditioning will help Jokic, but he may be limited as an oversized power forward.

Another issue:

Jokic was just working in the post, Nurkic cut into the paint — prevented Jokic’s move. But Nikola spins back toward baseline for layup.

— Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN) March 22, 2016

With two post players in the lineup at the same time, there will be issues of running into your teammates space. Another kink that can be worked out, especially since Nurkic has done most of his work this season in the low-post. But Nurkic did operate out of the high post under Brian Shaw, so he can move out to space if the team wants to work on it. 

End of third quarter, 87-72 Cavs. While Denver was outscored 31-24 in the quarter, it was more about Malone experimenting with Jokic and Nurkic. Without a small forward in the lineup, Malone went with Arthur, the team looked pretty discombobulated out there with the oversized lineup. Good experiment though as there were positives to take away from Jokic and Nurkic — good passing, potential for rebounds (they fought for a couple of them) and good interior defense. 

Fourth Quarter: 

–9:31 mark: Dellavedova hits a 3-pointer in semi-transition and it’s 97-74, as Altitude radio’s Jason Kosmicki says… THIS ONE IS OVA! 

-6:00 mark: LeBron commits an intentional foul so he can exit the game with a triple-double. He ends the night with 33 points on 12-19 shooting, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He’s a beast. 

Game over: 124-91 Cavs win it. Outside of Nurkic rejecting LeBron and seeing Nurkic and Jokic play a few minutes together, this was a dud. 

WHERE/WHEN

Quicken Loans Arena / March 21st / Game Number 71

PLAY OF THE GAME

With the Nuggets going on an 18-0 run, LeBron was helpless as Nurkic turned his shot away in the second quarter and then stared him down, while James was on the ground.

Here is a closer look:

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT’S NEXT

The Nuggets return home to face the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, March 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at, you guessed it, Pepsi Center. Get tickets by clicking the banner below!