NIKOLA Jokić only went to work for three quarters as the Denver Nuggets cruised to an easy 119-101 domination over Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association (NBA) Season at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines).
Jokić tallied double-double 27 points and 12 rebounds while also dishing six assists as the Nuggets improved to a 6-7 win-loss slate. Monte Morris added 15 points while Paul Millsap finished the game with 13 points and 12 boards.
Will Barton also supplied 13 points, Gary Harris and PJ Dozier ended up with 11 markers apiece while Jamychal Green contributed 10 markers and eight boards for Denver.
From a close first quarter, the Nuggets began to pull away in the second quarter and stretched the lead to 26 in the third before Jokic and his fellow starters became spectators.
Luguentz Dort had 20 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Bazley and Isaiah Roby contributed 14, 12 and 10 markers respectively as the Thunder dropped to 6-6.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell was solid from the start as the Utah Jazz cruised to a 118-102 win over New Orleans Pelicans at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, US.
Mitchell tallied 28 points, including four of the Jazz’s 21 three-point conversions, and seven rebounds as they cruised to their sixth consecutive win (9-4).
Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson added 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists, Joe Ingles scored 15 points while Rudy Gobert had double-double 13 points and 18 rebounds for the Jazz.
Mitchell has been dominant for the Jazz in the opening quarter scoring 15 points while going six for seven from the field for a 29-22 edge. He continued his rampage in the second frame as Utah took a 55-49 lead at the half.
The Jazz carried that momentum into the third quarter as the lead swelled to 73-55 before widening it further to 91-69 with back-to-back conversions from Clarkson and Ingles.
BOX SCORE:
DENVER 119 – Jokic 27, Morris 15, Millsap 13, Barton 13, Harris 11, Dozier 11, Green 10, Murray 5, Hartenstein 5, Campazzo 3, Bol 2, Hampton 2, Howard 2, Cancar 0, Nnaji 0.
OKLAHOMA CITY 101 – Dort 20, Gilgeous-Alexander 14, Bazley 12, Roby 10, Jackson 9, Diallo 8, Maledon 7, Hill 6, Brown 6, Hall 6, Muscala 3, Miller 0, Williams 0, Pokusevski 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 31-31; Q2, 65-52; Q3, 97-74; Q3, 119-101./PN
