The grind of an NBA regular season can catch up to a team from time to time. For the Denver Nuggets, the second night of a back-to-back set saw them fall behind early and never recover, dropping a 123-111 game to the San Antonio Spurs. 24 hours after a thrilling overtime win in New Orleans, the Mile High squad couldn’t build on the momentum in the first of two consecutive meetings against the Spurs this week.
On the second night of a back-to-back, Denver (12-13) fell behind 22-12 early in Thursday’s contest. San Antonio (9-15) attacked the offensive glass and generated five second-chance points on three offensive rebounds in the first five minutes of action. Although the Nuggets were able to slightly chip away at the deficit throughout the remainder of the quarter, the Spurs used hot 3-point shooting (5-of-10 from beyond the arc) and a big advantage on the boards (18-8) to secure a 37-29 lead after the first 12 minutes.
The hot 3-point shooting continued for San Antonio to begin the second frame, as back-to-back triples helped extend the lead to 47-32. The lead grew to 18 for the Spurs midway through the quarter as Denver’s offense struggled to find a rhythm. An 18-4 run from Denver towards the end of the half brought the Nuggets within four points, but San Antonio held on for a 74-65 lead at the halftime break. The two teams combined for 19 3-pointers through the first 24 minutes.
Seven points from Aaron Gordon in the opening four minutes of the second half helped Denver stay in the game as Jakob Poeltl and the Spurs continued to dominate on the offensive glass. Midway through the third quarter, San Antonio held an 85-78 lead. Although the Nuggets got within four late in the frame, the Spurs pushed the lead back up to 10 at the end of the quarter, 100-90.
Denver’s second unit was able to hit from deep often throughout the initial stages of the final quarter, with back-to-back 3-pointers from JaMychal Green cutting San Antonio’s lead to 107-102 with just over seven minutes remaining. A quick 8-2 run from the Spurs halted Denver’s momentum and pushed the lead back up to double-digits, as had been the case throughout the first three quarters. San Antonio extended the lead in the ensuing minutes to comfortably put the game to bed.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s loss.
Jokić does it all (again)
24 hours removed from his best performance of the season in Denver’s overtime victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the reigning MVP had a quieter outing in San Antonio.
Of course, a quiet outing for Jokić at this point is 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in 35 minutes of action, as the Serbian big man continued to fuel Denver’s offense and serve as the team’s hub on that end of the floor.
Jokić had 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the first half and will look to continue his strong run of play in the second meeting between the two teams on Saturday.
San Antonio sunk Denver on the boards
When your opponent outrebounds you 54-33, grabs 14 offensive rebounds and scores 20 second-chance points, it’s going to be hard to win that game, especially on the road.
Unfortunately for Denver, that was the case Thursday night in San Antonio, as the Spurs attacked the offensive glass early and often which led to extra scoring opportunities and momentum-deflating buckets.
When you then add in that San Antonio also had a hot shooting night Thursday (52.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc), the Nuggets will have a lot to clean up in Saturday’s matchup.
Gordon attacked early and often
It’s safe to say that the Nuggets got an aggressive Gordon during Thursday’s game.
The 26-year-old forward took 12 shots, with all of them coming inside the arc. In fact, only two points came from outside the paint for Gordon, who continuously hunted mismatches and fought for strong positioning in the post.
In the end, Gordon finished with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, while he also chipped in six rebounds and three assists to round out his impressive performance on the second night of a back-to-back.
Denver and San Antonio will matchup again on Saturday (6 p.m. MT).