Nuggets were reversed by Magic with 18 points: Jokic scored 29 points Banchero made his first triple-double free throw
On January 6, Beijing time, the defending champion of the NBA regular season, the Nuggets, played at home against the Magic, of which the Nuggets were the second game in a back-to-back, and the Magic only played with 9 players. With the Nuggets leading by as many as 18 points, Banchero had his first career triple-double in the third quarter and led the Magic to a final quarter. The two sides continued to bite the score and struggle, Banchero made consecutive fouls at the last moment to overtake the score again, and finally the Nuggets lost to the Magic 120-122 to end the 2-game winning streak, and the Nuggets were overtaken by the Thunder again and lost the second place in the West, and the Magic ended the 3-game losing streak. Banchero had 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, achieving his first career triple-double in front of Jokic, and Suggs exploded with 7 three-pointers and 27 points. Jokic missed a triple-double with 29 points and 8 assists, Porter Jr. had 22 points and Murray had 20 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.
In the first meeting of the season, the Nuggets played 119-124 away to the Magic, and in that game, they scored 30 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists at home, leading the Nuggets to 6 people, including Porter Jr. with 25 points. Magic 6, 3 of whom scored 20+ points to win, Banchero 23 points, Wagner Jr. 27 points and Anthony 20 points.
The two sides met for the second time of the season, the Nuggets lacked two players, Konzal and Strausser, and the Magic lacked 7 players such as Fultz, Carter Jr., and Wagner Jr., and only 9 players were left to play. The Nuggets trailed 9-10 at the start of the first quarter, then went on a 10-0 run to take the lead and then extended their 10-point lead to 26-16. Banchero scored consecutive points to lead the team to chase only 3 points, and the Nuggets opened the score with a wave of 8-2 offense, and the Nuggets led the Magic 37-28 at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Magic chased only 5 points, and the Nuggets extended their 12-point lead with a 7-0 offensive wave, and the two sides then launched a battle against each other. After the Nuggets were chased to 52-44, they launched a wave of 9-0 offensive to extend their 17-point lead, and the Nuggets won by 4 points at 30-26 in a single quarter, and the Nuggets led the Magic 67-54 at the end of the first half. In the first two quarters, the Nuggets scored three double-doubles, Jokic scored 11 points, Porter Jr. scored 14 points and Gordon scored 10 points, the Magic scored two double-doubles, Banchero had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists and Suggs scored 15 points.
At the beginning of the third quarter, the Nuggets extended their lead to 72-54 by 18 points, but Banchero led the team to stubbornly fight back to chase the score, and he led the Magic to a 41-31 net 10-point offensive in the third quarter. Banchero delivered 7 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists in the third quarter, and he had achieved his first career triple-double in the first three quarters of 23+10+10 data, and the Nuggets were chased to only 98-95 at the end of the third quarter to lead the Magic by 3 points.
At the beginning of the final quarter, Jokic was substituted for the break, the Magic scored 5 points in a row to overtake 2 points, the Nuggets scored 4 points in a row to regain the lead, Suggs made his 7th three-pointer to overtake the score, and the Magic continued to suppress the Nuggets to expand the 4-point advantage. Jokic assisted on Porter Jr.'s three-pointer, Jokic also scored inside, and Banchero made both free throws to extend his three-point advantage. The two sides were locked in a tug-of-war to tie the game at 118-118, with Murray making two fouls and making two free throws to take the lead, and Banchero making both fouls and making both free throws to continue the tie. The Nuggets made a key mistake, Banchero made two fouls and made two free throws to lead by 2 points, Murray missed the ball, and finally the Nuggets were defeated by the Magic reversal.
(Text/Drunken Sleeping)