The Denver Nuggets surpassed this Friday by 113-104 and after an extension to the Oklahoma City Thunder and placed with 2-1 in this semifinal of the West after a very fought and exciting game in which they were not inspired or Nikola Jokic or Shai-Gilgeous Alexander.
The fourth game between the Thunder (first of the West with the best balance of the League) and the Nuggets (rooms) will also be played this Sunday in Denver. This series was marked by the capital face to face between Shai, a favorite to the MVP this year, and Jokic, winner of the award in three of the last four seasons.
But neither the Canadian nor the Serbian shone tonight, which finally decided on the contribution of the cast actors. Usually an absolutely efficient and lethal genius, Jokic lived a nightmare with 20 points (8 of 25 in shots with 0 of 10 in triples), 16 rebounds and 6 assists with 8 ball losses. Nor could Shai boost Oklahoma with 18 points (7 of 22 with 1 of 6 in triples), 13 rebounds and 7 assists.
However, Jokic had three of his fellow champions in 2023 to a fantastic level: Jamal Murray (27 points and 8 assists), Aaron Gordon (22 points and 8 rebounds and a new fundamental triple in the final stretch) and Michael Porter Jr. (21 points and 8 rebounds with 5 of 6 in shots of three).
The Nuggets won the first game for 2 points, lost the second for a scandalous margin of 43 and tonight beat 9 and in the extension to be located with 2-1 in the tie.
In the visitors, who suffered from the perimeter with a frightful 9 of 35 in triples, Jalen Williams assumed responsibility with 32 points and Chet Holmgren went from more to less until they ended 18 points and 16 rebounds.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, with all their figures back on the court and a Donovan Mitchell again sensational, submitted this Friday 104-126 to the Indiana Pacers and re-denied this semifinal of the East with 2-1 in the global.
Darius Garland was lost the first two games and Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter did not play in the second meeting, but the three recovered from their physical problems and gave an important boost to Cleveland’s rotation.
Those of Kenny Atkinson also showed mental strength to score in Indianapolis this crucial third meeting since they had not only fallen into the first two duels at home but in the second they struggled in their hearts with a winning triplazo of Tyrese Haliburton in recent seconds.
Tonight, the story was very different from the initial jump with a 0-11 output, a +21 to rest and an overwhelming control of the rebound throughout the encounter with 56 for Cleveland (18 offensives) for only 37 Indiana.
In addition, Atkinson won Rick Carlisle’s departure with a defense in the area that dynamited Indiana’s offensive in the second quarter (13-34).
Mitchell was once again the top scorer of the Cavaliers and after his 48 points on Tuesday he wore tonight with 43 (14 of 29 in field shots), 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
All the head of Cleveland achieved 10 or more points: Max Strus (20 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists), Mobley (18 points and 13 rebounds), Jarrett Allen (19 points and 12 rebounds) and Garland (10 points with fault problems).
In Indiana, Haliburton went from hero to Villano with only 4 points (2 of 8) and 5 assists.
Pascal Siakam only arranged his statistics at the last minute (18 points) and Aaron Nesmith stayed at 7 points and 7 rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin, with 23 points out from the bench, was the most productive.
The fourth game of the series will also be played in Indianapolis this Sunday.
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