Jokic and Murray Shine to Lift Denver Nuggets Past San Antonio Spurs in Thrilling 136-131 Finish
In a battle between two teams that could very well meet one another come the playoffs, the Denver Nuggets were able to edge out the San Antonio Spurs in a high-scoring finish on the road on Thursday night.
Nuggets Offense Unstoppable in Crucial Win
Whenever either Nuggets All-Stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are on fire in a game, you can almost guarantee a win is imminent for Denver, and both players lit up the Spurs tonight. Jokic would continue his triple-double ways as he finished with 31 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists, while Murray dropped a game-high 39 points and dished out 7 assists to boot. Both players had a flawless night from the free-throw line, as Jokic finished 11 for 11 and Murray finished 15 for 15 from the charity stripe in the win.
The Nugget’s offense was humming overall in the win, as they shot 50% from the field as well as 94% from the free-throw line as a team. Denver would also get some much-needed scoring support from a couple of key players, namely Cam Johnson and Spencer Jones. Johnson would have one of his better games this season, as he scored 15 points on an efficient 6 for 8 shooting from the field, while Jones would score 19 points in the win.
The Nuggets’ passing was also a key factor in their win, as the team handed out 27 assists in a great display of teamwork on offense in the win. Denver’s offense got off to a bit of a slow start in this game, as the Nuggets went down by as much as 20 points partway through the third quarter. The offense would soon find its groove from that point on, as the Nuggets scored over 40 points in the final two quarters to pull out the road win.
Spurs Lose at Home for First Time in Nearly 2 Months
Coming into the game, the Spurs had enjoyed a great deal of success in the friendly confines of their home arena for the past two months. San Antonio had been on an 8-game home win streak and currently sports one of the best home records in the league with a 25-7 overall record.
Tonight’s game was no different on home ground, as San Antonio’s offense looked to be hitting on all cylinders despite the loss. The Spurs would knock down 19 threes at 40% clip to keep the game very close down the stretch against Denver. While the Nuggets’ offense proved too hot to stop in the closing minutes, the Spurs can hang their heads high in seeing their offense compete at a high-level against one of the best offenses in the league.
Although the Spurs offense was shooting the lights out, their lackluster defense is what ultimately led to the loss, and much of that was due to the absence of Victor Wembanyama. The French superstar was a late scratch, as he was ruled out due to right ankle soreness shortly before tip-off.
Wembanyama has been marvelous for the Spurs over the past two weeks, recently winning the Western Conference Player of the Week award after leading the Spurs to a perfect 4-0 record while averaging 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game. San Antonio was able to get some nice performances in Wembanyama’s absence, as second-year Stephon Castle notched his 3rd career triple-double with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, while star guard De’Aaron Fox dropped 27 points and 9 assists in the loss.
Nuggets Stay in Contention for Top 4 Finish in the West
As the NBA season inches closer and closer to the postseason, the Nuggets remain in firm contention to snag a higher seed with their win tonight. Denver currently sits a half-game back of the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets for either the 3rd-place or 4th-place spots in the West. Only two games separate the 3rd-place and 7th-place position in the conference at the moment.
The Nuggets will get a chance at securing one of those two higher seed spots on Saturday, as they travel to Los Angeles to face off against the Lakers in what could be an early preview of a first-round playoff series come April.
