DENVER — The shorthanded Nets already introduced a dropping streak into their most daunting street journey of the season.
Their stoop guarantees to get somewhat longer.
The injury-riddled crew fell, 124-105, to the Nuggets on Friday night time at Ball Enviornment, a tough method to begin a six-game Western swing.
Denver famous person Nikola Jokic — who entered main the NBA in scoring (31.5) and ranked second in assists (9.7) — was questionable after lacking the prior two video games with a non-COVID sickness.
Naturally, he got here again towards the Nets and was each bit as dominant as anticipated, posting a triple-double with 35 factors, 15 assists and 12 rebounds.
“He’s the game plan,” stated coach Jordi Fernandez, a former Nuggets assistant. “Yeah. So, clearly, an excellent crew. They’ve been collectively for a very long time, very effectively coached. And you recognize the ball goes to be in Nikola’s arms. He leads the league in post-ups, No. 2 in assists, No. 1 in touches. In order that’s who he’s.
“Then he has great teammates around, a guy that can take over and dominate the game in Jamal [Murray], Michael [Porter Jr. is] shooting very well. The whole team, they know what they’re doing. … So we’ve done our job, we’re prepared to play this team. And it’s a good challenge for us because you don’t get to face the best player in the world every day.”
The Nets bought a team-high 22 factors from Keon Johnson and 19 off the bench from Tyrese Martin.
However with main scorer Cam Thomas, shooter Cam Johnson and level guard D’Angelo Russell all harm, they lacked firepower.
“It’s been a tough year for them, but when you look at everything they’ve gone through this year — the trades, the players and all that — the most important thing for Jordi … is to establish a culture. Then as you add pieces to that culture, then the wins will come,” Denver coach Mike Malone stated.
“That’s what I tried to do here in Year 1, 10 years ago. But before the wins are going to come, you’ve got to create an identity, you got to create a culture. And I think Jordi is on his way to doing that.”
The Nets (13-25) fell behind by as many as 22 within the third earlier than their quick break-fueled rally fell quick within the fourth.
They mounted a 19-3 run to drag inside 97-92 when Martin discovered Reece Beekman for a 3-pointer with 8:18 to play.
Denver, simply 2-3 with out Jokic, improved to 20-12 with him.
The Nets’ lottery positioning improved as effectively.
They’ve dropped 4 straight and 7 of their final eight and, within the course of, moved out of a tie with the Path Blazers and into the sixth-best odds within the draft lottery.
The Nets play at Utah and Portland, fifth and seventh in lottery positioning, on this marathon street swing that might be pivotal for draft positioning.
The Nets led 46-40 with 6:40 left within the second quarter however allowed a 16-2 Nuggets run.
Jokic began it by discovering Russell Westbrook for a chopping layup, and Westbrook’s tip-in capped it.
The Nets went into the locker room down, 65-59, on the break.
They allowed a 14-3 run within the third and fell behind by 22.
The Nets didn’t fairly capitulate, reeling off 12 unanswered factors spanning the third and fourth quarters. They pulled inside 5 however bought no nearer.
A closing 14-3 Denver run padded the rating again to 117-100 with lower than three minutes left, and the sport was over.
“Its been exciting because I get to see guys that have never been in certain roles or played minutes in the NBA and they get to do it for the first time. So I don’t think frustration will take me to a good place, especially encouraging the guys, and see them compete and fight,” Fernandez stated. “Obviously, you want to be better, you want to win every game, and that’s what we’re aiming for is just keep getting better developing these guys and have the chance to fight for wins.”
