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.

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 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.

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.

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.