NBA Daily: Eliminated Spurs Upset West's Best Nuggets 128-120
By Reylan Loberternos
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 11 Mar 2023
Tagbilaran City, Bohol – The inspired San Antonio Spurs showed what this young squad is capable of, as they rallied from an early 15-point deficit to beat the best team in the West, the Denver Nuggets, 128-120 on Friday night (Saturday morning, Philippine time) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
It was a balanced attack for Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich's wards, as seven of them scored in double figures, while the rest contributed at least 4 points. Olympic gold medalist Keldon Johnson led the way with 23 markers, on 8-for-17 field goal shooting, including 3 from deep, to go along with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
Doug McDermott torched the net with 20 points, missing only one of his 8 field goal attempts, and was perfect 4-for-4 from the rainbow territory. Sandro Mamukelashvili was magnificent in the fourth, contributing 11 markers, highlighted by 2 three-pointers, to step up for starting center Zach Collins, who was ejected early in the game after a scuffle with the also-ejected Michael Porter, Jr. of the Nuggets.
Reigning back-to-back league MVP Nikola Jokic once again led Denver with yet another triple-double of 37 points, 11 boards, and 11 dimes, to go along with 3 steals and 4 made threes. It was Jokic's 26th of the season, but the first time that the Nuggets lost whilehe had a triple-double.
Jamal Murray added 24 for the Nuggets, who dropped to 46-21 on the win-loss column, but remained on top of the Western Conference team standings. They will face the Brooklyn Nets next at home on Sunday night (Monday morning, Philippine time).
The Spurs, though already eliminated from the play-off race, improved to 17 wins and 49 losses. They will next host the Oklahoma City Thunder also on Sunday night (Monday morning, Philippine time).
How They Scored:
Spurs 128 – Johnson 23, McDermott 20, Sochan 19, Vassell 14, Jones 14, Mamukelashvili 11, Collins 10, Bates-Diop 9, Branham 4, Bassey 4
Nuggets 120 – Jokic 37, Murray 24, Gordon 14, Caldwell-Pope 13, Brown 8, Porter Jr. 7, Green 6, Bryant 4, Jackson 4, Braun 3
Around the League:
Road Team – Home Team
Trail Blazers 119 - 76ers 120
Hawks 114 - Wizards 107
Cavaliers 115 - Heat 119
Nets 124 - Timberwolves 12e (OT)
Raptors vs Lakers game in progress as of this writing
Comments are highly appreciated. You may send them to reylanloberternos@yahoo.com.ph and you may follow me @reylan_l on twitter.
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