The much-anticipated showdown between the top teams in the Western Conference took place Tuesday night as Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets hosted the mighty Golden State Warriors.
However, it was clear from the beginning that the Warriors were trying to make a statement, scoring an NBA-record 51 points against the Nuggets in the first quarter.
Denver wasn't able to recover from there and eventually got blown out by 31 points, 142-111.
Despite the loss, Jokic remained optimistic about his team's chances this year. The big man sees their loss to the Warriors as a major setback and even used a Denzel Washington quote to show his positivity:
Nikola Jokic quoted Denzel Washington in his postgame remarks. The line he was getting at was “Don’t be afraid to fail big.”
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) January 16, 2019
Nikola Jokic had 17 points, four rebounds, and eight assists in the loss.
The Nuggets have been one of the most surprising teams in the league. While many saw them as a playoff team, nobody saw them as a squad that would be this high in the standings at this point, especially in the loaded Western Conference.
But Jokic has led one of the league's best offensive teams. And with the Warriors struggling relative to their usual standards during the first two months of the season, the Nuggets are sitting toward the top of the West.
However, the Nuggets weren't able to prove themselves against the two-time defending champions. Denver was unable to stop Stephen Curry (31 points, six rebounds, four assists), Klay Thompson (31 points, three rebounds, three steals), and Kevin Durant (27 points, six assists, four boards), who torched them from behind the arc. The trio shot a combined 64 percent (18-for-28) from beyond the 3-point line.
The loss officially gives the Warriors the top spot in the West with 30 wins and 14 losses, but the Nuggets are just a half-game behind, and with ample time left, these teams are expected to be in a neck-and-neck race for the conference's best record moving forward.
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