Games 34 & 35. A Home at Home Series vs Nikola Jokic. A Battle of 2 Preeminent Big Men Who Perform at High Levels. Series Split. Spurs are 18-17
With 4 seconds remaining, Devin Vassell intercepted Nikola Jokic's pass, allowing the San Antonio Spurs to hold on for a 113-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Big Man Victor Wembanyama's stellar performance, which included 35 points and 18 rebounds, helped the Spurs overcome Jokic's big night. The three-time MVP tallied 41 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists, narrowly missing his 15th career triple-double.
In the final seconds, San Antonio led by one when Denver had a chance to win. However, Jokic's pass was picked off by Devin Vassell who then drove into the lane for a game-sealing dunk. Michael Porter Jr.'s 34-foot attempt at the buzzer fell short, denying the Nuggets an opportunity to force overtime.
Porter finished with 22 points, but Denver's three-game winning streak came to an end. Wembanyama committed 8 turnovers, nearly recording an unwanted triple-double, though the rest of the Spurs had just 6 turnovers.
The Nuggets were mindful of Wembanyama's defensive presence, often resorting to fadeaway jumpers. However, Porter showed no fear, throwing down a dunk with Wembanyama near the rim in the closing minutes.
A key moment came in the third quarter, when the teams combined for 15 points on 3-pointers in just 67 seconds. The Spurs hit three straight, while the Nuggets made two consecutive shots from beyond the arc.
The loss dropped Denver to 2-5 in the first leg of back-to-back games, though they have won all six second-leg contests heading into Saturday's matchup.
Points Created Link Game 34 Road Win Spurs at Nuggets 113-100
For Competitive Games, Think 5 Points or Less, LATELY, I have tried to do Quarter-By-Quarter Breakdowns. Here is the one for this Road Win vs Jokic and The Nuggets.
Points Created Full Breakdown Quarter-By-Quarter Spurs @ Nuggets 010325
You can see just how amazing Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic are for their teams. They are the engines for their respective teams and when they get support, big things happen. The Points Created Per Minute and Scale show how well a player is doing when on the court.
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Part Deux - The Home at Home series provided 2 great games of enjoyable viewing but with MIXED RESULTS. The excitement of Overtime coupled with sour taste of a loss.
Game 35 Recap Video Link Spurs v Nuggets 111-122 L
Nikola Jokic delivered a dominant performance, scoring 46 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, as the Denver Nuggets spoiled Victor Wembanyama's 21st birthday with a 122-111 overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
Despite Wembanyama's impressive 20-point, 23-rebound effort, he was held scoreless and without a rebound in the extra period. The young Spurs star has now recorded 57 double-doubles in 101 career games.
The teams split their home-and-home series, with the Spurs winning Friday's matchup 113-110 when Devin Vassell stole the ball from Jokic and then scored on a fastbreak dunk in the closing seconds. But Jokic made sure there were no such heroics on Saturday, scoring 9 points in overtime to seal the victory for the Nuggets.
Michael Porter Jr. added 28 points and 10 rebounds for Denver, while Harrison Barnes scored 22 points and Vassell had 19 for San Antonio, who had won two straight prior to this back-to-back.
The game featured some heated moments, including technical fouls issued to Zach Collins and Russell Westbrook in the first quarter after they exchanged taunts.
Takeaways:
- Denver's bench outscored San Antonio's 43-18
- Julian Champagnie hit 3 of 4 three-pointers for the Spurs over the two-game set
- Jokic's late scoring burst, including a key layup after stripping Wembanyama, sealed the win for the Nuggets
Wembanyama continues to impress, averaging 30.6 points and 11.7 rebounds over his last 9 games.
Points Created Game 35 Home Loss Spurs v Nuggets 111-122 OT L
I decided to run yet another Quarter-By-Quarter for this Spurs v Nuggets game as well:
Points Created Full Breakdown Quarter-By-Quarter Spurs v Nuggets 101425
Many times we see Spurs fans saying that it was PLAYER A or PLAYER B's Fault on why the team lost. There's so much complexity in today's NBA game and typically, in a TEAM GAME, it's not just 1 player that gets the blame. You can see with PC Per Min to see who underperformed with their time on the court.
There are some instances, when a player might be defending well or moving the ball well. It's just that Box Score stats do not reward things like Position Defense or a Hockey Assist(although, this particular is being recorded as a stat on the NBA site. ) Here is link for that. They call it a SECONDARY ASSIST. It is not an official part of Box Score Stats.
NBA Secondary Assist (Hockey Assist)
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Spurs after this split with the Nuggets, are at 18 Wins with 17 Losses.
Up next are The Bulls at Home. When last they played, the Spurs, without Wembanyama lost by 15 in San Antonio. Will they sweep? (Late publish... yeah they did sweep the Spurs and that 4th Quarter was UGLY.
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