Beijing time, March 26, 2023, today's NBA game, the first in the West (third in the league) 49-24 Nuggets at home against the Bucks, the first in the East (first in the league) 53-20, this game is a good test for both teams, for Jokic, Alphabet Brother is also a key battle for MVP battles, because these two are MVP favorites, Jokic won the regular season MVP for the past 2 seasons, Alphabet Brother won the 2018-19 season, Regular season MVP for the 2019-20 season. Both men are hoping to win their third regular-season MVP this season.
The Nuggets have a poor record in the last 10 games, 5-5, and suffered 4 consecutive losses during the period, which also caused Jokic to lose the MVP position (overtaken by Embiid), but the Nuggets have won the last 2 games and their form is recovering. The Bucks are in good form with 8-2 wins in their last 10 games, winning their last three games, two of which are easy wins.
The Nuggets rank 2nd in the league in offensive efficiency this season, 16th in the league in defensive efficiency, 16th in the Bucks in the league in offensive efficiency this season, and 1st in the league in defensive efficiency, the Nuggets offense is good, the Bucks are good in defense, especially the interior defense is very top, and the combination of Da Luo + Alphabet Brother makes it difficult for opponents to score in the Bucks penalty area. Jokic can he still play efficiently in the face of Da Luo + Alphabet Brother in this game?
Alphabet is the league's most impactful monster, averaging 8.4 shots per game from opponents' baskets, ranking first in the NBA. The Nuggets' interior defense is poor, and the basket protection effect is the lowest in the league (opponents shoot 69.8% from the Nuggets basket), can they withstand the impact of the alphabet brother in this game?
In the first meeting between the two sides this season, the Bucks beat the Nuggets by 8 points at home, this game Jokic, Murray, Porter, Pope and other big players did not play, the Bucks were the main player, but did not expect that the remaining Nuggets still caused some trouble for the Bucks, the point difference did not widen, the Bucks led by only 14 points at most, Alphabet brother cut 33 points, 14 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals, but missed 9 times. In today's rematch, the Nuggets core is there, can they complete their revenge?
Nuggets starters: Murray + Pop + Porter + Gordon + Jokic, Bucks starters: Holladay + Allen + Middleton + Alphabet brother + Da Lo.
In the first quarter of the game, Jokic took the lead to score a shot, Holladay missed a three-pointer, Alphabet brother steal Jokic a dragon dunk, Pope layup, Alphabet brother singles Gordon dunk, Murray, Gordon three points, Da Luo, Alphabet brother, Allen, Holladay scored continuously, the Bucks 17-12 stopped the Nuggets, after the timeout came back Jokic, Porter, Murray played 7-0 to win 2 points, Middleton, Alphabet brother responded to a wave of 6-0 4 points, Jokic scored consecutive points, Da Luo, Portis responded, the difference was 3 points, Murray hit three consecutive three-pointers, Alphabet Brother, Portis, Connaughton joined forces to respond, the first quarter Bucks led 38-37, Murray cut 18 points in the first quarter, Jokic 11 points and 3 assists, Alphabet Brother 13 points and 3 assists.
In the second quarter of the game, Nagy dunked, the Nuggets won by 1 point, Alphabet brother and Allen teamed up, the Bucks overtook 8 points to stop the Nuggets, Brown, Porter chased the point difference to 4 points, Middleton, Holladay extended the point difference to 9 points, Jokic, Porter, Pope scored, Connaughton, Holladay, Da Lo responded, the difference came to 10 points, Porter, Green chased the point difference to 3 points, Alphabet brother extended the point difference to 7 points, Murray, Jokic chased the point difference to 3 points, and the Bucks led 66-63 at halftime.
Alphabet Brother scored 24 points, 4 boards and 3 assists on 11-of-14 shooting in the half, Holladay had 9 points and 5 assists, Da Lo had 9 points and 1 board, and Middleton had 6 points, 4 boards and 4 assists. For the Nuggets, Murray had 20 points, 3 boards and 4 assists on 7-of-13 shooting in the half, Jokic had 17 points, 2 boards and 5 assists on 6-of-11 shooting, and Porter had 12 points and 3 boards.
In the third quarter of the game, Da Lo scored 4 points, Gordon, Jokic responded, the difference was still 3 points, the alphabet brother steal Gordon pass broke through the layup, Pop responded with a layup, Allen made 2 of 2 free throws, the Bucks led by 5 points, Jokic and Porter tied the point difference to stop the Bucks, Middleton threw a shot after the timeout, Jokic, Porter, Brown played a wave of 10-0, the Nuggets rallied by 8 points to stop the Bucks, after the timeout came back, the alphabet brother took a dunk, Jokic, Pope made 4 free throws, the Nuggets led by 10 points, Middleton scored continuously, Jokic, Murray and Nagy responded by 11 points, Ingalls made 2 of 2 free throws, and Green made a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 97-85 lead in the third quarter. Jokic scored 12 points in the quarter and finished with 29 points and 8 assists in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Green broke through the barrier alphabet brother ignited the game, Holladay layup was blocked by Najib, Najib layup, Nuggets led by 16 points to stop the Bucks, after the timeout came back, Alphabet brother, Allen scored, Murray, Brown, Gordon responded, the difference came to 20 points, Portis scored continuously, Pope, Gordon, Jokic, Porter responded, the difference was 22 points, more than 3 minutes left in the game, the suspense has been lost, the Nuggets withdrew the main force, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Bucks 129-106.
Jokic scored 31 points, 6 boards and 11 assists on 10-of-20 shooting, with a plus-minus of +19, and Jokic reached a milestone after the game, his regular season total exceeded 12,000 points to 12,009 points, Murray 26 points, 6 boards and 9 assists, Porter 19 points and 7 boards, Pope 11 points and 8 boards, Brown 11 points and 5 boards, Gordon 9 points and 7 boards.
Alphabet Brother had 31 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 4 steals on 13-of-22 shooting, Middleton had 13 points, 8 boards and 5 assists, Holladay had 9 points, 2 boards and 7 assists, Allen had 13 points and 4 boards, Da Luo had 13 points and 2 boards, the Bucks started five Tigers with 79 points and 25 boards, and Portis had 11 points and 6 boards off the bench.
The Nuggets beat the league's No. 1 Bucks today, showing their strength, they deserve to be the Western hegemon, the strongest team in the West this season is indeed the Nuggets, the Nuggets have a 23-13 record against teams with a win rate of more than 50% this season, far ahead of the Western powers, the Nuggets have become one of the league's real top teams this season, they hope to hit the championship.