DENVER—Nikola Jokic did another thing nobody in NBA history has accomplished, score 37 points while grabbing 18 rebounds and tossing 15 assists. That’s what it took for the Denver Nuggets to escape the reigning West champ Dallas Mavericks, who got 43 points from Kyrie Irving in a 122-120 win for the big man’s crew.
What was supposed to be a friendly battle between a Serbian and Sloevina star flashed red hot as one of the NBA’s premier early season games. Luka Doncic’s star was outshined by Irving, hitting 17 of his 22 shots, but it was Jokic’s co-star in Murray who made huge plays to propel the Nuggets. Either way, it was a top billing. Two teams with championship aspirations led by MVP hopefuls traded leads 22 times, tied 15, and had four of the more iconic players of the decade going bar for bar. It was Irving dancing, Jokic plotting, Doncic thrilling and Murray bouncing. But what Jokic did remind Doncic, as his teammate cooked, that there is a far cry from preseason betting market MVP favorite and a player riding one of the best 10-game stretch in league history.
Jokic now leads the league in rebounding with 13.7, is second in assists at 11.3 and is fourth in scoring at 29.7 points a game. The three-time MVP has tallied six triple-doubles and two 40-point games just 10 contests into the season. While Jokic is now the market’s MVP pick, and yes we’re doing this way too early, he was only third on NBA.com’s list on Friday.
“I would assume that after tonight’s performance, he’ll probably be like fifth in the MVP voting early in the season. So you just got to do more for us, because what he’s doing hasn’t been noticed by everybody outside of this Rocky Mountain Empire,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone joked while throwing shade at MVP voters after the game. “On a serious note, just incredible. We’re all running out of words, adjectives and ways to describe his greatness and his impact. The simple way to say it is he’s the best player in the world.”
Doncic finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as his Mavs dropped a third in four games and are now .500 on the season. Meanwhile, the Nuggets swept their five-game homestand and are off to a 7-3 start, good for fourth place and matching what the team did at the beginning of their title season.
It doesn’t go the Nuggets way on Sunday though without Murry’s eight-point, three-assist fourth which was enough firepower to match the 20 Irving poured in during the final period. The two stared each other down and attacked one another. Irving took Dallas’ last two shots, but he missed both—thanks to a block by Peyton Watson and stifling defense by Christian Braun. The two set up a game-winning floater for Michael Porter Jr. with six seconds left, scoring his first points since the first half.
“Mike got going early, and obviously I could do a better job of keeping him going. He’s been playing at such a high level across the board, I think he’s averaging close to career highs and a lot of offensive categories. So that’s on me to keep Michael Porter hot and make sure we’re feeding him and giving him looks,” Malone said of Porter’s 17 points. “He had four more assists tonight, like he’s playing the game. It’s not like he’s just coming off and shooting bad shots. Michael’s reading it. ‘I’m not open. Let me pass, let me cut, let me make a play for somebody else.; So I gotta do a better job of keeping him going through throughout. But to your point, you know what a weapon to have late in the game? Close game, one possession, game where a guy who hasn’t touched it or shot it in a while winds up making probably the biggest shot of the night. So I appreciate Michael’s patience and his ability to stay in it, because it’s never about the individual, it’s about the collective, and Michael was a great example of that tonight.”
The Nuggets finished with six scorers in double figures, as the aforementioned all achieved that mark and Julian Strawther poured in 12 points off the bench. For a game led by the brightest star Colorado has ever seen on the hardwood, it truly was a team win for the Nuggets. The team has clearly proven they’re still among the contenders over the last several games. Jokic, who has nothing to prove, keeps showing everyone he’s among the greatest to have ever touched a ball.
