It wasn’t a high-scoring affair, but it was a yokichi.
The Denver Nuggets cruised to a 111-93 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in a 2023-24 NBA regular season game at the Pepsi Center on Sunday morning (Feb. 2).
The Nuggets were led by Jamal Murray with 25 points, three rebounds and seven assists, Michael Porter Jr. with 22 points, eight rebounds and one assist, and Nikola Jokic 스포츠토토 with a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Charlotte’s Miles Bridges had his best game of the night with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his team from losing.
The game continued early in the second quarter with both teams attacking the paint. The Hornets aggressively attacked the paint when Nick Richards was on the court, and rattled Denver’s defense with their outside shooting when he wasn’t.
Denver led 24-18 at the end of the first quarter, but the teams traded outside and midrange battles in the second, ending the quarter tied 49-49.
The third quarter was the problem. The Hornets were held to just 17 points while Denver scored 40, and the game went south in a hurry, especially when Jokic, who was held to just two points on the night, scored 11 points and Jamal Murray joined him with 11 points, accounting for more than half of the team’s points.
The combination of Jokic and Murray drew four defenders while using screens and their natural size to get in and out of the paint for Charlotte. Before long, the game was 89-66, a 23-point advantage. This one quarter of action by Jokic, who had struggled physically throughout the game, was the difference in the game.
With three minutes to go in the third quarter, Denver went from garbage time to garbage time, substituting Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and others. Charlotte battled back in the fourth quarter, but the Nuggets still led by as many as 22 points, 107-85 Denver.
The teams went into garbage time with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Denver held on for a 111-93 victory with no cliffhanger.
With the win, Denver improved to 24-11 and saw its six-game winning streak snapped, while Charlotte lost its 11th straight game and remained in 13th place in the East.