Nikola Jokić, Nuggets seize on opportunity with aggressive 1st punch at relentless Lakers

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DENVER — Anthony Davis smiled, Nikola Jokić shrugged — one of the rare moments where two titans collide at the same position for 40 minutes, battling it out directly against one another with real stakes.

Jokić hit one of those contested buzzer-beaters to send Ball Arena into a high at the end of the third quarter, prompting the reaction of respect from Davis. And if Game 1 is any indication for the rest of this series, the line for the NBA’s best big men will start behind these two.

Jokić struck first blood in the Western Conference finals with yet another historic evening as the Denver Nuggets held off the Los Angeles Lakers 132-126 Tuesday night. The two-time MVP saw his reign end recently, but unlike Joel Embiid, he showed up throughout this opener.

Jokić put up 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists, getting off to the best possible start as the Nuggets took full advantage of the Denver altitude, jumping on the Lakers before a swift second-half response made a runaway a very close game.

In the first two rounds, teams stayed away from Davis on defense, and it was unknown how Jokić would approach the matchup. But the answer was in the opening minutes when he went right at him — first on the offensive glass with tip-ins then driving around Davis for dunks.

“It’s a playoff. We need to be aggressive. We need to win the game,” Jokić said. “Especially in front of our home crowd, especially because they won two Game 1s. So I think being aggressive, it’s normal right now.”

Davis didn’t quite fall asleep, it was just superior moves by a legendary player who happened to make All-NBA second team behind Embiid.

“I thought when he felt there was one-on-one coverage, facing up and getting to the basket and using that understated athleticism to finish in traffic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “That was great to see.”

As for the high-arching 3-pointer at the buzzer, Jokić said simply, “Sometimes luck is on our side. It’s a crazy shot, of course. It’s not something that I work on. I’m glad it went in.”

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis reacts after a 3-pointer by Denver…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-05-17 06:08:43

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