Denver, CO
Recap: Denver Nuggets use big games from Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook to beat Brooklyn Nets 124-105 – Denver Stiffs
It was a big night for the Denver Nuggets against the Brooklyn Nets. Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook team up for triple doubles and put the pedal to the metal in the second half which got the Nuggets a big lead. Brooklyn fought back for a bit, but Denver’s duo was too much for them to handle. It wasn’t all good news with Jamal Murray leaving the game after the first half with knee soreness but the Nuggets were still able to get a blowout and win tonight 124-105.
The Nuggets were a bit slow to start while the Nets were active which let Brooklyn get out to a 7-2 lead. They hit their first six shots with Ben Simmons leading the way but Denver kept within striking distance as the quarter progressed. The Nuggets tightened the screws and went on a little run to get back within three right around the halfway mark of the first. Both teams had their shortcomings. Denver kept turning it over, the Nets kept attempting alley-oops that they didn’t convert. The Nuggets tied it up at 24 with just under four minutes to go. Julian Strawther continued his run of good play early, he got five points almost immediately after coming off the bench and that resulted in Denver’s first lead. The Nets closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run and led 36-32 at the break.
Count the basket pic.twitter.com/G3i0U0BEYZ
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 11, 2025
The non-Jokic minutes were clunky to start the second and resulted in an early Michael Malone rage timeout. The Nuggets got more focused after that but started committing fouls so they stayed behind. Neither team could buy a bucket for a solid three minutes and around the seven and a half minute mark Jokic checked back in. He and Russell Westbrook worked their two man game to get some points while the Nets started to hit some threes. Denver took the lead with about five minutes left in the half and the Nets called timeout. Brooklyn went ice cold while Denver started scoring which led to an extended 16-2 run and got their lead up to eight. The Nets responded with the half winding down and finally started scoring again. They got the lead down to three with a minute to go but the Nuggets closed strong and went to the locker room leading 65-59.
The Jok and Russ connection pic.twitter.com/ZDcTO7mJdV
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 11, 2025
The second half opened with some troubling news. Strawther was in the starting lineup for Murray who was out with knee soreness. Despite missing their starting point guard, the Nuggets were knocking down threes and quickly got up by double digits. Michael Porter Jr. started to get hot and pushed Denver’s lead up to seventeen after burying a three in Simmons face. The lead kept climbing with the talent difference between the teams becoming evident, halfway through the quarter Denver led by more than twenty. The Nets were able to stop the bleeding heading down the stretch of the third but weren’t stringing together stops. They kept working though with the Nuggets looking a little too comfortable with their lead. A good close to the quarter put Brooklyn trailing 94-79 after three.
What a pass from Brodie pic.twitter.com/v3kYRfX8sa
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 11, 2025
Brooklyn kept the Denver off the scoreboard for the first two minutes of the quarter while knocking down a pair of threes and just like that the lead was back under ten. That made for an early return to the game for Jokic but the Nuggets were still struggling to score and had just three points in almost four minutes. That trimmed Denver’s lead to just five. Joker got them going on offense again and kept Brooklyn from closing the gap more. Westbrook was aggressive in getting to the basket but the Nets got enough baskets to keep Denver from running away. They couldn’t stop fouling the Nuggets though which made the lead creep back up into double digits. The wind started coming out of the Nets sails as they resigned to jacking up threes. Westbrook delivered multiple pinpoint passes in a row into the paint which got him a triple-double to with Jokic’s. With two minutes left Denver was up by sixteen and Westbrook delivered the dagger with a corner three shortly after to cap off a fantastic game from him. Nuggets win big 124-105.
Electric pic.twitter.com/JVDsV6h9kh
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 11, 2025
There will be no Westbrook slander
When the Nuggets signed Westbrook there naturally was some reason for concern. He hadn’t played at nearly the level he did during the twenty-teens and appeared to be on the full decline. He’ll never get back to his MVP form at this point in his career but Russ has been absolutely vital to this team. Next to Jokic he’s become an absolute force and also expands Nikola’s dominance even more with his ability to get Joker the ball in great spots. He’s also been a major steadying force with Denver’s bench unit and is rounding into a form where you feel comfortable with him being the primary weapon on offense when Nikola’s off the floor. I can’t wait to see him in the playoffs when the energy goes to a whole new level.
Just hope for the best for Jamal
It’s obviously concerning when Murray leaves the game with any injury, but when the injury is knee soreness I think all of Nuggets Nation holds their collective breath. Murray was really starting to round into form these last couple weeks and it will hurt Denver if he has to miss extended time. Coach Malone didn’t sound overly concerned and said after the game Murray pulled himself because the knee just wasn’t feeling right. Hopefully that’s all it is. On a night where the Nuggets were playing against a team that is more interested in lottery balls than Ws it didn’t hurt to be extra cautious. Moving forward, with the way Westbrook is playing right now and with Jalen Pickett looking more and more like an NBA player the Nuggets should absolutely give Jamal as much time as he needs to feel right.
Denver, CO
Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others
Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.
Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.
Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.
Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.
At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.
No suspects had been identified publicly or arrested as of Tuesday afternoon.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
Denver, CO
Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines
The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.
Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.
At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.
“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”
One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.
Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.
“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”
The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.
Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.
“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”
McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.
“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”
While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.
“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”
More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.
Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.
Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.
“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.
Denver, CO
Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy
Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.
Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.
The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.
On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”
Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.
“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”
The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.
“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”
Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.
“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.
“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.
He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”
The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.
Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.
The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.
And the work is just beginning.
“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”
Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:
“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”
-
World1 week agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
News1 week agoFor those who help the poor, 2025 goes down as a year of chaos
-
Business1 week agoInstacart ends AI pricing test that charged shoppers different prices for the same items
-
World1 week agoPodcast: The 2025 EU-US relationship explained simply
-
Business1 week agoApple, Google and others tell some foreign employees to avoid traveling out of the country
-
Technology1 week agoChatGPT’s GPT-5.2 is here, and it feels rushed
-
Health1 week agoDid holiday stress wreak havoc on your gut? Doctors say 6 simple tips can help
-
Politics1 week ago‘Unlucky’ Honduran woman arrested after allegedly running red light and crashing into ICE vehicle

