Nuggets can’t overcome Nikola Jokic’s foul play against Cavaliers, losing fourth straight road game
Basketball is not the most important thing in my life without a sign – Sport CLEVELAND — It turned out the Cavaliers were missing two of their three scorers,
but the Nuggets were still missing their best two players. It wasn’t planned, but that’s how Sunday’s 121-109 loss against a depleted Cavs turned out.
The Nuggets, already missing Jamal Murray with a hamstring strain, battled Nikola Jokic’s mistakes all night as they erased one double-digit deficit but couldn’t overcome another.
The result was their fourth straight loss on the floor and their first straight since Games 3 and 4 of their second-round playoff series against Phoenix in May.
Donovan Mitchell, who has been inevitably intertwined with Murray since their electrifying battle in the 2020 bubble, duly missed the match with the same ankle injury, while Caris LeVert was sidelined before tip-off.
Without them, however, the Knights were more than capable against the defending champions, led by 26 points from goaltender Darius Garland and 21 from Craig Porter Jr. Late in the third quarter,
with several of Denver’s rookies playing and Jokic still sidelined as Michael Malone began to excel on back-to-back passes Monday in Detroit, Garland urged his teammates to isolate against Julian Strawther.
He gained valuable experience from the All-Star guard who overcame an easy driving stop. That summed up the night for the Nuggets (9-4), who struggled to get Garland and five other double-digit scorers regardless of the game.
The second chance score was 19-4 in favor of Cleveland. At the finish, the score was 56-46, Cavs. Jokic had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes, his fewest this season.
A potential foul for most of the first half turned into a game-defining hiccup after the break when Jokic committed his fourth and fifth straight fouls in Denver territory.
The second of those offensive mistakes in particular played as a challenge from Jokic, who doubled down on his physical post-up style and paid off immediately. He went to the bench for the last 7:32 of the quarter.
After Jokic picked up his second foul with 2:19 left in the first period, Malone spooked with a new small-ball lineup: two point guards (Reggie Jackson and Jalen Pickett), two shooting guards (Christian Braun and Justin Holiday) and Zeke.
Nnaji who originally signed to play four. That lineup was able to outscore Cleveland 2-0 the rest of the quarter, but the second unit broke early in the second period when Porter Jr. of Cleveland scored points.
Malone returned to the starters with three minutes to go as the deficit ballooned to 13 and a quick 18-5 run temporarily put an end to the problem. But Denver could not maintain an effective defense. When Jokic was called for his third foul with 1:30 left in the half, it was back to 59-53, Cavs.
Jokic asked Malone to watch the final 90 seconds, but Malone didn’t want to mess around. Nnaji, who was supposed to be Jokic’s backup, went under 6-for-30 in the last four games, but Malone said that was a trend he hoped to improve.
“Sometimes it’s not that maybe Zeke doesn’t do his job, but I know exactly what Aaron (Gordon) gives me to defend big players like Kawhi (Leonard) and Zion (Williamson).
“I have to find ways to give Zeke more minutes, whether it’s a pairing with Nikola, five behind Nikola,
whatever it is. I never have to worry about Zeke going out and leaving everything there.” Nnaji went 14-17 on Sunday, although his path to those minutes included Denver’s layoff.
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