Nikola Jokic reminded the NBA immediately before the All-Star Break that he would have been a worthy candidate and had a great duel with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves won an emotional flip Saunders Night against the Lakers.
Nikola Jokic is not driving to the All-Star Game this weekend. A decision that doesn’t seem to be quite so happy after this match – but I have to say that the Serbian seems to feel very comfortable in Milwaukee. One year after he played the first triple double of his career at the Bucks, he shone again that day and repeated this story. Even more: With his 17 (!) Assists, of course Career High, he led the nuggets to one of their best offensive performances ever.
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And this was also necessary. Even though the nuggets had a much better start and led to the break with 12 points (Jokic already had a triple-double), the bucks didn’t give themselves so easily. Guided by Giannis Antetokounmpo (36 points, 11 points, 13 assists) and Eric Bledsoe (27 points), Milwaukee once again reached 5 points in the third quarter. But then Denver did another 12:3 run and didn’t look back afterwards.
Jokic finished the game with 30 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds – a monstrous statline:”It went well from the beginning,”said the Joker afterwards,”I may have been a little more aggressive, but I actually played just as well as usual,” His team got infected: a total of 24 nuggets drowned out 24 threes, which was only one triple under the table. Gary Harris (28 points) and Jamal Murray (26) made a decisive contribution alongside Jokic.
Of course, Nuggets coach Mike Malone was also very happy:”If you play 37 assists and throw so well, it’s because of how you handle open throws. We generated great looks today,” The Bucks scored 74 points in the first half of the season, more than ever before,”It was just one of those days we couldn’t do it right for some reason,”said Khris Middleton,”We allowed them to do it three ways at a time.”
It should not be an ordinary evening for the Timberwolves – this was already clear before the tipoff. The evening began with an emotional tribute to former coach and team president Flip Saunders – before the game, a banner was placed under the ceiling of the hall to commemorate Saunders, who died of cancer in 2015. Among others, his former players Chauncey Billups, Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell were guests, while the ceremony was hosted by TNT commentator Kevin Harlan.
They also played, but the Wolves were very hard at first, which was understandable on this emotional day. The Lakers led in the second quarter with 15 points in the meantime, in the third also with 12 points, before Minnesota finally scored the second quarter and made a comeback on the shoulders of Taj Gibson (Season High 28 points) and Jimmy Butler (24). Jeff Teague also scored 20 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns was already 51. Double-Double of the season (10 points, 19 rebounds).
It wasn’t Isaiah Thomas who did the scoring for the Lakers – the recently traded Guard played 25 minutes from the bank, but he only scored 7 points (3/15 FG, 5 Turnover). The youngsters of the team did much better: Best man was Julius Randle with 23 points and 9 assists, backup center Ivica Zubac got a strong 19 points (8/8 FG!) and 11 rebounds from the bank. Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also scored 17 points each.
Before the All-Star Weekend, the Wolves have now expanded their home record to an outstanding 24-7 and extended their lead over OKC to 2 games. This should give them a tailwind they need: for their first game after the break, they have to travel to Houston.
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