Nikola Jokic played his worst NBA game of the year in the Denver Nuggets’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers with a score of 111-102.
An unexpected turn of events in one of the night’s marquee matchups. Denver had an excellent start to the game in Los Angeles, where one of the standout performers was the Serbian center. Riding on his contributions, they established a 15-point lead after just 12 minutes of play. However, an inexplicable and uncharacteristic downturn followed, especially for Nikola Jokic. The offense came to a halt, and the defense allowed 40 points in the quarter, allowing the Clippers to go into halftime with a four-point lead.
Denver managed to keep it close during the third quarter, even though Jokić had one of his worst shooting performances in his career. This was felt in the final quarter when the game was on the line. Denver lacked in-form players, and the home team capitalized, securing their 10th win of the season.
Paul George led the winning team with 25 points, and James Harden had an excellent game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. On the other side, Jamal Murray scored 23 points. As for Nikola Jokic, he contributed 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists but with only a 28% shooting accuracy.
A historic game unfolded in Dallas as the Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz with a score of 147-97.
From the beginning, it was evident that the hosts were in top form. Their offenses looked spectacular, resulting in an 11-point lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, they managed to improve their defense, leading by 23 points after 24 minutes. It’s worth noting that Luka Doncic achieved a triple-double by the end of the first half.
The same pattern continued in the last two quarters. Despite the home team fielding their starters in the final quarter, Dallas continued to dominate Utah. The final score was an enormous +50, with the home team winning each of the four quarters by a double-digit margin.
Luka Doncic delivered an incredible performance, scoring 40 points, providing 11 assists, and grabbing 10 rebounds, all in just 31 minutes on the court. This performance propelled him past the legendary Larry Bird for ninth place on the all-time list of players with the most triple-doubles. Kyrie Irving followed with 26 points. The only noteworthy performance for the Utah team was Ochai Agbaji, who scored 21 points.