Recapt

On By Littum

Denver Nuggets fell their third match in a row, this time lost to New York Knick’s 122-112. Nikola Jokic was called for two mistakes in the first two minutes of the game, and coach Michael Malone put him for 15 even minutes, until 7 minutes’ brand in the second quarter, then played the whole other half. Jokic was out of varieties and shot only 6-of-15 for 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in a most passive game. Jamal Murray picked up the limp offensively and scored 33 points to go with 5 rebounds and 6 assists of his own, but most of the offense was Murray, who called his own number.

Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 14 rebounds, but Nuggets couldn’t contain Knicks, even though Denver dominated the boards 47 to 35. Denver took the lead in the third quarter, but then New York went on to the game and never looked back. Jalen Brunson had 30 points and 15 assists for Knicks while and Anunoby added 23, but Knicks knew who they were trying to be and it never felt like nuggets were doing. Denver leads to Philadelphia on Friday in the first half of a back-to-back, but they have some crucial problems to iron out on this road trip and see nothing near doing it at this time.

Game stream

Nikola Jokic opened the scoring with a nice cut to the basket for a finish. Josh Hart made one of two free throwing, Jamal Murray hit a nice 10 -foot stepback, and Jokic was called for two mistakes on a possession and had to come out with just over two minutes away. Jamal’s Pullup was matched by one and Anunoby drives, and Mikal Bridges made a corner three to New York. MPJ missed out on a 3 and was thumped off and, which then ran out again for his second thump to force a timeout as New York went on a 9-0 race to lead 12-6. Jalen Brunson made a three, Russell Westbrook missed both a corner three and a layup, Murray’s revenue led to a traditional 3-point game of Brunson to make it 18-6 knicks. Aaron Gordon finally finishes the race with an OOP finish from Russ, but and thumped again at the other end. Murray missed another shot, Brunson hit another layup, and Westbrook’s lineup was one of the few early bright spots. AG and Murray had both revenue that did not hurt them at the other end, then Gordon made a tough paint finish. Braun ran the edge and got bad shots, Murray turned it again, and Precious Achiuwa hit a floater to put New York back with 8th Murray and Julian Strawther both blocks and Strawther’s Missed 3 was put back by Christian Braun. Cam Payne replied with a 3, Peyton Watson knocked in a stepback over cat, cities came back with free kick, and Murray made a hook shot. Precious Dunked for New York replied Murray with a last second three-end first brand from deep in six trials and despite having to play nearly 10 minutes of the quarter without Jokic stayed in contact with only 4 at 31-27.

Cities and Braun exchanged jumpers, and then Malone challenged one outside boundaries early in the second quarter. Strawther hit a floater after a nice competition at the other end to get Denver within 2, but Deuce McBride replied in the paint. Deandre Jordan thumped over cities, but the cities drew their third mistake and had to sit themselves. Knicks hit a couple of triangles to do it 43-37 when Michael Malone refused to put Jokic back until almost 7 minutes’ mark despite the fact that cat should sit. AG also came back and hit a free throwing line, and Jokic backed up precious and hit his own turn. Brunson and Josh Hart both hit paint pictures for new, Russ and Precious Exchange Finish, and Jokic threw one out of boundaries passing the length of the court to help a Russ bucket. Nuggets didn’t do a good job of getting the ball to Jokic despite his obvious discrepancies against each knick on the field. Gordon answered Brunson free kick with 2 of his own, Murray missed a 3, but MPJ made one. Westbrook blocked Brunson, the teams exchanged revenue, and then another Westbrook turnover became one and three. Mike sent a pass to Jokic to get a shot and Knicks ran out on Miss for a finish the other way. Jamal made a shot, Porter missed another 3, and Jokic missed half a court shot against shower. He had only 4 first half points and 2 assists, but Denver only pulled 6 on 60-54 despite that.

Russ opened the scoring in the third quarter with a big drive, Jokic had a block and then a big leave for a Murray enhand drive in the two-man spel to first force a quick Knicks hourlyout. MPJ forced a defense and then tilted in a Murray glip of offense to tie it up, but Brunson answered with a 3. Jokic missed a finish, but Denver’s defense got up and Porter came to the line at the other end. Jamal hit a transition three to give Denver suffered 65-63 for his 19th point and then hit a stepback next time down. Denver hit the boards and Jokic went to AG for a finish and cap a 9-0 race. Anunoby made a corner 3, the answer of a Murray three over cat. Denver ran on each rebound and Porter ended the next transition bucket. Brunson made a paint bucket, then Murray made two errors and a turnover in short order. MPJ had a nice block, but a careless turnover and Hart had a transition finish to bring New York back within 3 on 74-71. Jokic played a very passive offensive game and the violation got cold without Murray on the floor for a few minutes, and Kat’s setback of a precious Miss gave Knick’s lead back on 81-80. Westbrook then had its own setback, but Jokic threw a passport that neither Russ nor Porter wanted to go, and it turned into a Brunson 3 instead. Jokic came to the line with a more aggressive approach, Braun missed a finish and Murray bricking a stepback. Brunson got his 30th point in the last minute, Murray missed a drive, and Bridges made a three to give the New York 93-86 lead that entered the fourth quarter.

Jokic came back to start the fourth and missed a 3, but Jamal Murray got a loose ball and made it a transition 3 from Strawther. Jokic finished a Murray Assistant, but McBride hit a jumper and one three to give Knicks back their 7 -point lead. Jokic walled another 3, Payne hit a floater the other way, and Anunoby hit a 3 for a double -digit lead. Jokic made a 3 back, Braun finished a hard paint floates, but Watson committed a fee after a few hard Denver Misses. Bridges and Jokic exchanged triangles again, and AG made one to close the gap for 108-104 Knicks. AG finished a Westbrookfeed, Hart had a set up the other way, and MPJ missed another shot from deep. Russ had a shot blocked, bridges and Hart made layups, and Knicks pulled away down the stretch as Denver’s challenge unfortunately came short on a strange evening with basketball. Finally score was 122-112.

Last thoughts

– Extremely weird game, but certainly not a hopeful. After two bad endeavors in a row, hope was that nuggets would show up in New York with something to prove. Instead, they lost every quarter in a game where their rhythm was definitely thrown off – but where they couldn’t just take advantage of their forces. No one could feed Jokic even when he was in the game and he looked honestly deleted. Murray played hard and brought his score, but he was still outplayed by Brunson. MPJ couldn’t shoot (again) and didn’t do very little else correctly. Denver actually crashed the boards of 41 non-Jokian rebounds, but had only 21 assists to New York’s 33. No one at Denver was able to make the game easier for their teammates, and the team just had too many mistakes to overcome on both ends. Silly turnover and terrible transitional defense are a bad combination, and the nuggets lost both the quick break and paint points to Knicks, which cannot happen if they want to win.

– Where does Denver go from here? Games where Jokic goes to the bench two minutes into the competition cannot really be extrapolated for seasonal -long implications, but if a team looks like it needs a change, do this. Nuggets don’t seem to find out who they will be. They are a transition team that plays at a fast pace this year – they are 5th in tempo and 3rd. Battle while holding their offensive rating 4., a good result that does not help their defense at all. They are 7th worst in points per Allowed games and 12. Worst in defensive rating. Nuggets can’t remove teams away and they can’t turn the tide into a game and keep it to their advantage. When Denver has it offensively, they can get enough stop to come by. They can be a really big offensive team despite being in the league in the triangle. But when they begin to make mistakes of offense – when teams can turn them around, or the few triangles they take do not fall – they cannot fall back on the defense. They can’t fall back on anything other than feeding Nikola Jokic, and they were terrible over it too tonight. It won’t be easier in the playoffs.

It feels like a trade should be inevitable to shake things up, but Denver has so few assets that are moving that it may not be possible to shake this list in the season. When a team cannot change the talent normally, they change the coach, but the guard situation that Booth has created for itself with incorrectly managed assets and acquisitions (as well as some incredibly bad damage) makes it difficult to judge which way the nuggets leans. Do they think they are challengers? They have to be, but will have to strengthen the schedule because the games, when Mike are invisible – or worse, an injury – creates a massive problem that they have no one on the guard schedule to solve. Denver can lean into offense or to improved defense, but they have to lean into something, solidify some identity beyond “We have the best player in the world” because on evenings like this is definitely not enough .