Nikola Jokic asserted his status as current NBA Most Valuable Player and this Saturday concluded with a triple-double to lead the victory by beating of the Denver Nuggets by 133-96 over Lebron James Y Los Angeles Lakers.
Jokic gave his team what it needed to dominate its rival in the Western Conference of the NBA, by finish with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, in just over 28 minutes on the pitch.
The Serbian pivot scored seven of his 12 shots from the field, including 1-2 from the triple and the two free throws he made in the match.
Bones-Hyland, who scored six of the 10 three-point shots he made, was one of the most benefited from Jokic’s scoring passes, culminating as the Nuggets’ leading scorer in the match, with 27 units, to which he added 10 rebounds, coming off the bench.
Jeff Green, who left with 26 points, was another of the players who showed great effectiveness in his game, hitting 10 of the 14 attempts he took in the game.
Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo was on the court for 26 minutes, in whichhe scored nine points, provided five assists and grabbed three rebounds.
LeBron James, as usual, was the highest figure of the Lakers in the game, scoring 25 points, with nine rebounds, being accompanied by Russell Westbrook, who recorded 19 points.
Jokic, a leader who distributes
From the start of the game Jokic took in his hands the initiative to command the actions of his team on the court, scoring six points and providing three assists, counting on Hyland, who scored eight points, including two 3-point shots, as his main ally in the first 12 minutes of the game.
James didn’t sit idly by, scoring eight points for the Lakers, which had Dwight Howard hammering in the paint in this first quarter, in which he finished with 11 points.
The Denver team focused on put the sea in between in the second quarter, where Jokic marveled with his ability to distribute the game and assist his teammates.
The pivot and main figure of the Nuggets, marked his first assist in this time, with a pass to Hyland, who culminated with a layup, thus starting a journey that would culminate in six assists, in just over eight minutes of action.
Jokic’s work was so impressive, that 21 of the 39 points they scored in the second quarter of the game, went through his hands, in addition to cleaning the boards, grabbing six rebounds and just missed one of his four shots from the field, to add eight points to his performance.
With an evident decrease in the effectiveness of Howard, who only scored two points, James was more forced on offense, missing six of the nine attempts he made., taking a step forward, Trevor Ariza, who scored three three-point shots, to finish with nine and Russell Westbrook with eight points, to keep the Lakers in the game.
In this first half, Jokic already registered 14 points, with nine rebounds and nine assists, being undoubtedly the central figure for the Denver team to dominate the first 24 minutes of the match (73-60).
With everything and that the second quarter was not the best for James, the Lakers star was their top scorer in the first half of the game by the Los Angeles team, with 15 points.
The defense tightens
Already in the third period of the game, Denver showed its best defensive role in the match, which led them to beat the Lakers 29-19 in this quarter, having forward Aaron Gordon and shooting guard Jeff Green as their main reference in attack.
In this quarter of the game, when the clock showed around 6:00 minutes, Aaron Gordon fouled heavily against Russell Westbrook, who collided with the forward, trying to penetrate the hoop, falling to the ground, an action that triggered a discussion that ended with a technical foul for both players.
With a 102-79 lead for the Nuggets, both teams chose to use the substitutes in the last 12 minutes of the encounter.
With this impressive 133-96 victory over the Lakers, Denver’s have won four of their last five games, maintaining a good pace for the rest of the NBA season.
.
ttn-25