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Nikola Jokic is determined to be the NBA's great dominator and there is little the rest of the league's stars can do about it. Although the Serbian's Denver Nuggets will not be in the final phase of the NBA Cup, that did not stop the Balkan from excelling to beat a legendary opponent, Stephen Curry, in a great game (119-115). The Golden State Warriors, however, are the ones who advance in the competition and will play their quarter-final against the Houston Rockets.
The duel had a clear winner in Jokic. The numbers don't lie and the MVP of last season scored 38 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals. It was his third game with similar statistics, something that only James Harden and Larry Bird have achieved (with three as well). Curry, for his part, scored 24+7+11, but perhaps fell short in shooting percentages (34% in TC and 4/15 in T3).
More importantly, the Warriors lost their fifth game in a row. A way to touch the ground after opening the year exciting with a Curry in a state of grace from that formidable summer where the gold in Paris increased his legend. Against Denver, the San Francisco Bay Area team collapsed and let slip a 109-98 lead with just over six minutes remaining.
The Nuggets, led by Jokic, came from behind and a 10-0 run ended up blowing the game for Golden State, somewhat out of sorts compared to the Serb and the he received from Porter Jr. (22) or Aaron Gordon (15).
Before we played with each other and not for each other
Because the failures followed one another. Curry missed from long range in catch and shoot, Kuminga was blocked by Jokic and Wiggins missed when Gordon stole the ball. Three missed shots that could have changed the score. Denver survived and changed the dynamics of the last few games. "There we were playing with each other and not for each other," said Mike Malone, their coach, as an aspect to change... and it did.