On Friday night, two of the best teams in the NBA, the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, squared off in NBA Cup action. This was an exciting matchup for many reasons, but the most eye-catching mano a mano on the night was the battle between two All-NBA centers in Nikola Jokic and Alperen Sengun. Jokic has been one of the most dominant stars in the league over the past half-decade or so, while Sengun has been on a rapid rise to becoming one of the best all-around centers in the association.

But this time around, it was Jokic and the Nuggets that got the upper hand. Despite losing Aaron Gordon to a hamstring injury in the first few minutes of the contest, Denver took a 112-109 victory that moved them to 2-1 in NBA Cup group stage action and 12-3 overall on the season.

During the game, Jokic even took it to Sengun and showed him that he has a lot more ground to make up before he reaches the same level. With around 9:44 left in the third quarter, the Nuggets star put his head down and took the ball all the way to the basket against Sengun — only for him to surprisingly dunk the basketball right over the outstretched arms of two Rockets defenders, with Jabari Smith Jr. being late to contest.

Jokic has never been known for his high-flying ways. In fact, he's famous for how brilliant he is despite how bound his feet are to the ground. But the Nuggets star can do it all, and that's exactly what he did during their win on Friday night.

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Nuggets emerge on top in gritty battle against Rockets

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) makes a pass against the Toronto Raptors in the second half at Rogers Arena.
Bob Frid-Imagn Images

It was a very physical affair between the Nuggets and Rockets on Friday, as expected. But Denver can shapeshift against every opponent since they have so much depth now. The Rockets' overall rebounding advantage on the night was only two, which is a big deal considering how they bludgeon the opposition on the glass.

Jokic had himself another spectacular outing. He put up 34 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists on the night to go along with two steals and one block.