Nuggets start fast, fizzle late against Cavs

The Denver Nuggets came into the house of the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers looking to secure a statement win on the second night of a back-to-back. Overall the Nuggets performed admirably but an 18-0 run to start the second half ultimately doomed Denver who fell 125-109

The first half was highlighted, again, by Nikola Jokic, who put up 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists on the heels of his 40-point night in New York Friday. He did whatever he wanted offensively against the Cavaliers in the first half and it kept the Nuggets afloat. Denver took an insane 19 three-point shots in the first half and shot themselves into contention with the Cavaliers but ended up overly trigger happy from beyond the arc.

Jameer Nelson continued his efficient play and was a steadying hand throughout the first half that saw Denver trail just four points to the tune of 59-55. Jokic looked fantastic and the Cavaliers had not answer for him as he found shooters and scored in a plethora of ways.

The second half started with the Nuggets coming out of the gate sluggish and that ended with an 18-0 run from Cleveland that put the Nuggets down 22 as they started to tire on the second night of a back-to-back.

While Denver did what they could to shoot themselves back into the game the Cavaliers were firing on all cylinders to start the second half. Jokic continued slowly break down the Cavaliers’ defense and got the rest of the Nuggets’ roster involved but the deficit was only slowly dwindling as the Nuggets went into the final frame down 92-78.

Jamal Murray came into the fourth looking to get the Nuggets back into the game. He had ten points in the first half of the quarter and finished with 16 points on the night, and trimmed the deficit to just 11, but a Kyle Korver long two-point jumper pushed the lead back to 13 and the Nuggets never recovered. Jokic continued to pick the Cavaliers apart offensively but the Nuggets failed to play enough defense to make this game competitive late.

While Jokic had another fantastic game, scoring 27 points, 13 rebounds and four assists it was not enough as the Nuggets fell to the defending NBA champions 125-109. LeBron James finished with 27 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds to go with six turnovers while Kyrie Irving backed him up with 27 points and five assists of his own.

Footnotes

Danilo Gallinari missed his sixth consecutive game with his groin injury. Wilson Chandler started in his place and had 13 points and six rebounds.

Jameer Nelson had himself another gem of a game starting at point guard. Nelson finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.

Kenneth Faried missed his second consecutive game due to the ankle injury he sustained against the Atlanta Hawks. Darrell Arthur started in his place and had just three points and three rebounds.

What’s Next

Denver heads back home to take on the Golden State Warriors Monday and the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday before the All-Star break.