The 10-piece gives you ten things to know about Denver’s 82 regular season games. Today’s edition? Nuggets 113, Magic 100.
1. The Script: Once again, the Nuggets lost the first quarter, battled with a team headed into half and then destroyed them in the second half. Denver locked down defensively against a limited and injured Magic squad and ran away with the game after a 39-25 third quarter.
2. Light Work: Nikola Jokic had a triple-double in three quarters with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. He didn’t have to play the fourth quarter.
3. Questionable Choices: The Magic, without Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, made some weird decisions. They sent doubles from one pass away, allowing Jokic to punish them with kicks to Michael Porter Jr. (15 points). Orlando’s scheme, which is usually great, was another puzzle solved by Joker.
4. More Murray: Jamal Murray “only” had 19 points, but it was an easy, efficient 19 that included him going 7-of-10 from 2-point range
5. Dunks And Threes: Christian Braun had a sneaky great game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Against the Magic’s set defense, Braun helped the Nuggets push the pace. His rebounding was great on the wing and he had 20 points on 10 shots.
6. Reversal Of Fortune: Denver has struggled with defending the paint but were great in this one. The Magic shot 43 percent from 2-point range and that just won’t cut it vs. Denver even if you make more threes (which they did).
7. Unstoppable: Denver gave up 23 points off turnovers on 20 turnovers and still won going away. Their halfcourt defense was terrific and their offense sliced up the Magic. Just an impressive win vs. a tough team, and on the road to boot.
8. AG 6th Man: The Nuggets win again with Russell Westbrook starting and AG off the bench. The reality is that they will do this until they struggle with it and then flip back. For now, it’s working.
9. Minutes Crunch: The Nuggets on going away, the starters besides Murray only had to play 30 minutes, and somehow Peyton Watson still had only 11 minutes.
10. Up Next: The Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday at Ball Arena. Joel Embiid will not play due to injury.
