Jokic Shines, Denver Nuggets Lose To The San Antonio Spurs 118-104
Denver couldn’t pull out the win Thursday night, but did put up a great effort against the Spurs
On Thursday night the 17-23 Nuggets looked to continue their upward trend, averaging a whopping 130.7 pts, 58% FG%, and 33 assists over the last 3 games. With Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Darrell Arthur, and Gary Harris all out with injuries, the Denver Nuggets looked to overcome the odds against the second best team in the league, the 32-9 San Antonio Spurs.
The first half was a close one, with the Nuggets even having the lead at times. Unfortunately, they had a weak start to the second half that they couldn’t overcome.
This game was even closer than the 118-104 scorecard shows, and Spurs Coach Greg Popovich even was thrown out. And of course, Nikola Jokic was once again amazing to watch.
Let’s break down this game further to see how the Nuggets played against the Spurs tonight:
Offensive Takeaways
The game started off slow for both teams. Will Barton attempted to take over the offense early, but couldn’t get going. He shot only 1-7 from the field in the 1st quarter, and 2-8 in the half. Luckily, he lead the Nuggets in the half at the charity stripe (shooting a perfect 6-6 FT), but other than that he wasn’t quite himself. With so many offensive players out, that was deadly for the Nuggets.
Even though they were not finishing at a high percentage, admirable passing was on display early by the Nuggets. Led by Nikola Jokic, but spreading to the rest of the team, Denver is averaging 33 assists in the last 3 games.
In the first quarter, Jokic was 4-5 from the field, but the other 4 starters went 3-17. Luckily the Nuggets were only down 5 after 1 quarter.
Jokic had a sick pump-fake spin move at the three point that ended through the lane for a floater. He was on fire early, showing off his soft touch around the basket. And he is easily the best passer on the team right now.
nuggets
Nugg Love 5wDenver Nuggets: What It Means To Win in the Mile High
More headlines around FanSided:
12w - Denver Nuggets: DFS Picks for the Season Opener against the Pelicans15w - Denver Nuggets Fantasy: Implications From Preseason Opener15w - Emmanuel Mudiay: Analyzing the Art of Passing18w - Denver Nuggets: Will Malik Beasley Sadly Only Get Insurance Minutes?18w - Top 5 Denver Nuggets with Any Fantasy Basketball ValueMore News at Nugg Love
The only critique? His long reach on defense is great, but he lacks size against stronger NBA Centers at times. But still, the Joker was a monster tonight, scoring 17 points at the half and a new career high 35 points in the game.
Alert!!!!! Denver has a legitimate star in Jokic. Wake up Nuggets fans.
Jokic had a scary moment in the second quarter, looking like he pulled a muscle in his left thigh. He did hit the layup for an and-one play, but took a second to get up while clenching his upper leg. He was okay, but that foul call had some other unintended consequences.
It ENRAGED Greg Popovich (enough to get him thrown out of the game). It almost seemed like a calculated move from Pop to wake up the crowd and Spurs team, as he threw the assistant coach to the side to berate the officials more. And he was outta there!
Jamal Murray provided a great spark off the bench in this one. Coming off screens hard and looking more confident with the ball, Murray may be turning a corner as a rookie. If he would start to hit more 3 pointers, then he would be even more valuable for the Nuggets new playing style. He was getting many open looks coming off of screens, and may be one of the Nuggets best guards in the pick and roll. He had 11 points in 8 minutes in the first half.
In the second half, Murray drove through the lane and rose up for a vicious dunk. Big time dunks like that may get Murray going. But really, he needs playing time and experience before he can shine. Jamal finished with 13 points on 4-15 shooting, but showed some promise tonight.
After leading only 59-58 at half, the Spurs came out hot in the 3rd quarter. The Nuggets offense that was passing and cutting in the first half completely disappeared. Denver tried to get it going and did, but by that time the spurs had gone on a 15-0 run, and created a nice lead.
With all the injuries, Mike Miller even got some playing time. The 37 year old looked fairly spry, and provided some much needed ball movement when the Nuggets slumped in the 3rd. But it just wasn’t enough as the Spurs pulled further and further away
Denver made a couple late runs to get the game under 10 points, but each time the Spurs rebounded. This game wasn’t the greatest offensive output for the Nuggets, but it is a little understandable with some key players out with injuries.
Let’s take a look at the Nuggets defense tonight:
Defensive Takeaways
The starters were very impressive on defense early. They were providing effective double teams on LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard. And Denver was even rotating quicker than usual on defense and closing out on shooters.
Juancho Hernangomez got the start with all the injuries, and was active early. He had an early block on the glass against Manu Ginobli, then ran the floor and got a sweet pass from Jokic for the dunk. Juancho provides a similar effect to the Manimal: active on defense and the boards, on offense he cuts hard but needs some refinement.
More from Nugg Love
Kenneth Faried’s offensive hot streak came to an end, but he still provided solid defense and a solid effort on the board. But he just could not compete with the size of LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge was basically stopped offensively by Faried tonight, scoring only 10 points. But he was able to rack up 9 assists, as the Nuggets were double teaming him all night and he was finding the open shooter.
The early solid defensive effort continued with the second team. Denver didn’t look intimidated by the Spurs at all in the first half. And the Nuggets trailed only 58-59 at half.
But Denver couldn’t keep up that defense in the 2nd half. The Spurs 15-0 run to start the 3rd quarter put them in a hole they couldn’t come back from. Plain and simple, the Nuggets looked very sloppy on defense. That combined with a lack of offense gave the spurs a 15 point lead which they maintained for the rest of the game.
The defense was okay late, but the Nuggets couldn’t rebound from their 3rd quarter slump. Let’s take a look at the team grades:
Apr 22, 2016; Memphis, TN, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dribbles during the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio Spurs Team Grade: A-
Kawhi was a beast tonight. He took advantage of Will Barton and Juancho all night. There was really no answer for him, as he shot crisp swooshes over solid Defense. Leonard finished with 34 points, and was basically unstoppable.
The rookie Dejounte Murray made his 3rd start for the Spurs, and played pretty well. He is a young point guard with great shot creation skills. He finished with 24 points on 7-11 shooting from the field.
The Spurs basically get an A- for being the Spurs. They weren’t anything flashy, and even were a little “sluggish” early on in the game.
Want your voice heard? Join the Nugg Love team!
But luckily for them, they have enough star power to bounce back in close games.
Jan 3, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) rebounds a ball against Sacramento Kings forwards DeMarcus Cousins (15) and Omri Casspi (18) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Denver Nuggets Team Grade: B+
Emmanuel Mudiay was disappointing, and really no-where to be found. He hit a couple 3 pointers and had 12 points, but only 2 assists. Not great for our starting point guard. That needs to improve.
The Nuggets were once again disappointing in the turnover category, putting up 15 to the Spurs 7. This has been getting better lately, and has to improve for Denver to really start winning games like this.
Basically, the B+ grade is mostly for Jokic’s stellar performance. Denver’s hot streak faded tonight. They looked great in the first half, but they weren’t really shooting at the 58% that they have been over the past couple games. If that were the case they would have gone into half with a little lead, which would have changed everything.
If our 8th seed Nuggets can start to pull out wins like this, the playoffs are in the cards. And with the playoffs only comes player experience and development. Hopefully the hot streak will start again once the injured players return. Let’s just hope Denver can keep up the wins and stay in the playoff hunt.
And….Go Nuggets!!!!!!
