The first center of the new and old leagues
After defeating the Kings and refusing to lose three straight, the Denver Nuggets barely managed to retain seventh place in the West, with Jokic contributing MVP-level performances every night, and in this case, the team signed DeMarcus Cousins, the former league's number one center. It is also interesting to say that the former league's first center is now the league's first center as a substitute, which is really a different scenery! In this game, the Nuggets are challenging the second-to-last Oklahoma Thunder in the West.
Although the Nuggets are short of major generals, as long as Jokic is there, there is not much suspense in this game, but unfortunately, Cousins is not on the list for this game. In fact, Cousins did a good job with the Bucks, but unfortunately, the Bucks were not satisfied, so they cut Cousins.
The course of the game
The Nuggets showed their strength in the first quarter, Jokic had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Barton had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Rivers and Jeff Green on the bench combined to score 9 points, the Nuggets scored 36 points in a single quarter, and the Thunder only scored 23 points. However, after returning from the second quarter, the Nuggets' feel declined, Jokic only had 2 points and 2 assists, and although Rivers Jr. hit 3 three-pointers, the team only scored 25 points, but the Thunder's starting quarter only scored 2 points.
However, the Thunder's bench broke out, still helping the team to get 26 points, and at the end of the half, the Thunder trailed the Nuggets by 12 points 49-61. In the second half, the Nuggets still did not feel good, Jokic only had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist on 4-of-7 shooting, the team only got 19 points in a single quarter, the Thunder seized the opportunity this time, successfully narrowed the point difference to 1 point, the game has one session left, and the suspense is back.
In the final quarter of the game, the two teams are still tightly matched, and Rivers Jr. and Jeff Green play the team's second oldest, constantly helping the team to stabilize the slight lead. Muscala faced Jokic's hit on the board to tie the score. Jokic immediately also used the color, causing fouls to be thrown in two free throws. Earl missed three points, Barton made both free throws, and the Nuggets beat the Thunder 99-95.
6 three points
Jokic remains the team's mainstay, with 22 points, 18 rebounds and 6 assists, and his personal performance is impeccable, Patton is 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and Jeff Green has 16 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist on 6-of-10 shooting. Especially commendable is Rivers Jr., who shot 6 of 9 from three points in this game, got 22 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals, and once again became a good helper around Jokic, you know, he only holds a veteran base salary. Not long ago, the Warriors commentary publicly mocked Rivers Jr., saying his Clippers' big contract came from his father because Rivers was the team's head coach.
But now, Rivers Jr. uses his performance to tell people that he really stayed in the NBA League by his own strength, and the previous Clippers' big contract was also earned by his own performance. On the Thunder side, Alexander still did not find the feel, only 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 2-of-14 shooting, Kiddy 11 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, Dortmund 14 points and 5 rebounds, Earl 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and Beziley 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. For the Thunder, the road to reconstruction is heavy and long!