Nikola Jokic moved to No. 3 in profession triple-doubles with 27 factors, 20 rebounds and 11 assists on Wednesday at Cleveland, however his Denver Nuggets could not stand up to the host Cavaliers’ 3-point barrage and misplaced 126-114 on Thursday night time.
Jokic’s 139th profession triple-double broke a tie with Magic Johnson on the all-time listing. It was additionally his second triple-double with 20-plus factors and 20-plus rebounds this season.
The Cleveland quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert and Evan Mobley, nevertheless, responded by combining to make 17 treys and rack up 93 factors.
Led by Mitchell’s 28 factors and 6-of-10 capturing from lengthy vary, Cleveland’s perimeter capturing gave the Cavaliers an almost wire-to-wire victory. The benefit swelled to as many as 18 factors on a number of events within the second half earlier than Denver battled to chop the deficit to single digits late within the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run.
LeVert, who scored 21 factors off the bench, helped counteract the Denver burst by nailing the final of his 5 3-pointers on six makes an attempt. After Michael Porter Jr. scored two of his 24 factors on the following possession, Mitchell got here again down and sank one other 3-pointer off of certainly one of LeVert’s six assists.
The back-to-back triples snuffed out any hope of a Nuggets’ rally, and mirrored the story of the night time.
Whereas Cleveland shot 22-of-48 from past the arc, with 5 Cavaliers making a number of 3-pointers, the Nuggets went simply 6-of-24 from deep.
Mobley shot 3-of-5 from 3-point vary and 7-of-11 from the ground total en route to twenty factors. He additionally tallied 9 rebounds, 4 assists and three steals.
Garland added 24 factors and 4 assists. He shot 3-of-10 from outdoors. Jarrett Allen chipped in eight factors, six assists and 15 rebounds.
Aaron Gordon scored 18 factors and grabbed seven rebounds for Denver. Jamal Murray added 19 factors, and each Russell Westbrook and Christian Braun recorded 10 factors.
–Discipline Degree Media