Recap: Nuggets rolls over the magic

On By Littum

First quarter

KCP’s welcome back to Denver started with a high note for the magic and blocked Denver’s first shot at night. It came out of a Michael Porter Jr. Three -point attempts that Franz Wagner did not let days of light. The magic did not let much of the nugget actually look at the light of the day. The defense of them stopped well, and the Nuggets’ violation did not hold well outside Nikola Jokic at all.

Jokic in the first quarter had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He did it effectively, making 6 of his 8 shot attempts. However, the rest of the team combined to 12 points on 4/14 shooting. When Jamal Murray was a late scratch, nuggets with Julian Strawther started at the Point Guard. He had several mistakes, and without Jamal nor Russ, the violation looked clumsy. When Magic’s violation was usually clumsy, it was a tale of two teams that tried to find their offensive foot and not do a good job on it.

KCP went 1-5 from the field in the first quarter, Franz Wagner started 2-7 from the field and the rest of the team did not do exactly well. It was saved for Wendell Carter Jr., who seems to play well against nuggets every time they play. He had 7 points on perfect 3-3 shooting in the first one. Nuggets left the first frame 26-25.

Second quarter

The first quarter was Nikola Jokic’s time to shine, and Michael Porter Jr. decided it was his in the second quarter. When he checked out the game about the 6 minute brand, he had 9 points on 4/5 shoot. It was also important for nuggets, where he helped win the non-Jocian minutes by 3 points. Not the widest gorge ever, but it was a nice tempo change to see the bench minutes not sinking the team.

Cut reader, I hear you ask “What about the Jokian minutes”? Let me tell you they went pretty well, all considered. Jokic picked up right where he left off, and fell another 10 points to go on top of 13 from the first quarter. All in all, it brought him up to 23 by going during the break. Aaron Gordon also did a good job of acting as a playmaker and dropped 7 assists in the first half just a game after dropping 12 assists the night before.

The magic had a hard time keeping up with MPJ and Jokic (which combined for 42 of the team’s 59 points), where Paolo couldn’t find much of a rhythm and Franz continues to fight to establish himself in the game. Nuggets ultimately took a 59-50 lead that went into half. Not the biggest lead in the world, but far from the worst.

Third quarter

The third quarter was not even a competition. It was nuggets from top to bottom. They could not be stopped! Michael Porter Jr. Went off and dropped 11 points in the frame. It included some real sharp -shooting type of triangles. It also marked the third game in a row where he reached 30 or more points. He answered the call in this game and stepped in for Jamal Murray and then some. Nikola Jokic also held up her attack and came to a triple double at the end of the quarter with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. The rest of the team also began to contribute to Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun getting double digits in the game.

The magic, on the other hand, did not do well at all. They only managed to fall 17 in the quarter, and Franz and Paolo both continued to fight. In the end, the nuggets took a pleasant 92-67 lead into the fourth quarter. They had an easy win that was created.

Fourth quarter

There is very little analysis to give about the fourth. Munder secured the next one.