Beijing time on March 7, today's NBA regular season game, the Nuggets at home ushered in the Challenge of the Pelicans, the Nuggets in the first half of the lead was reversed, until the last quarter to catch up with the score, the two sides in the regular time did not divide the win or lose, in overtime the Nuggets blossomed inside and outside, and finally defeated the Pelicans at 138:130.
In this game, Jokic continued his MVP-level performance, playing 42 minutes in the whole game, hitting 16 goals in 22 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, 11 of 12 free throws, and finally got 46 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks, plus or minus +22 team-high, the most valuable of which was 30 points in the final quarter and overtime.
And Jokic hit a deadlock penalty and a key steal to drag the game into overtime. Jokic also became the first player in NBA history to have at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a single game, and is the second player in NBA history to score 45 points + triple-doubles with a 70% shooting rate, and the first player to do so is Chamberlain.
Thanks to Jokic's excellent performance, the Nuggets have won 8 of their last nine games and continue to secure a sixth place in the West. So why did Jokic give the Lakers a big gift? Because the current pelicans' record is catching up with the Lakers.
Before the game, the Pelicans were in tenth place in the West with 27 wins and 36 losses, just one win behind the Lakers, but after losing to the Nuggets today, the Pelicans and Lakers' win difference reached 1.5 wins, which is very critical for the Lakers and also gives them a chance to breathe.
In addition, the Lakers currently have 19 games left in the regular season, and the Pelicans have 18 games left, with the current record of both sides, it is unlikely to catch up with the eighth, so the two teams can only compete for the ninth place in the West and fight for home advantage in the playoffs. The next game the Lakers will go to the road to challenge the Spurs, the current Spurs are basically out of the playoffs, the Lakers should go all out to win this game, so as to slowly open the winning gap between them and the Pelicans.