The Denver Nuggets put an exclamation point on their comeback win over the Golden State Warriors. Nikola Jokic enchanted the champions. The Antetokounmpo/Wembanyama duel was electrifying. The NBA on Friday morning
Superstar Nikola Jokic made the headlines once again, leading the defending champion Denver Nuggets (25-11) to a 130-127 win at the Golden State Warriors (16-18) with a buzzer-beater. The Serbian center spectacularly drained the decisive three-pointer from just behind the halfway line with the clock running out and was once again the game’s MVP with a total of 34 points, ten assists and nine rebounds. Jokic hit 13 of his 16 shots from the field
After a strong third quarter, Golden State had taken the lead in the duel between the last two champions. However, the Californians led by Stephen Curry failed to score any more points in the final two minutes and Denver scored the last ten points of the game. Curry scored 30 points, but missed his last two attempts and lost the ball with four seconds remaining, which ultimately decided the game
Five blocks on his 20th birthday – praise from Antetokounmpo
In the second game of the evening, the Milwaukee Bucks (25-10) narrowly won 125-121 (64-59) at the San Antonio Spurs. Giannis Antetokounmpo came up trumps with 44 points and 14 rebounds, while number one draft pick Victor Wembanyama scored 27 points, nine rebounds and a whopping five blocks on his 20th birthday – plus highlight plays such as a self-dunk over the backboard and a poster dunk over Brook Lopez.
The established player was full of praise for the rookie: “He’s incredible, an unbelievable talent,” said Antetokounmpo about the 2.24-meter-tall Frenchman, who had only been on court for 26 minutes again after an ankle injury: “He can score at will whenever he wants. He plays the right way, he plays to win. It was good to play against him.”
It was the 25th win of the season for Denver and Milwaukee, both teams remain third in the West and second in the East respectively and are clearly on course for the play-offs. The “Dubs”, meanwhile, have a slightly negative record and are currently not even in contention for a place in the play-in tournament. Despite Wembanyama’s strong performance, San Antonio are still bottom of the Western Conference at 5-29.