Nuggets dominate Nets as Nikola Jokic makes more triple-double history

Early in Thursday night’s game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone stalked the sideline, waving his arms like the Scarecrow in the “Wizard of Oz,” imploring his team to shut down the Nets’ 3-point machine.

“We’ll have our hands full tonight,” Malone said before the game. “One of the areas where we have been struggling is with our 3-point defense. They are a prolific 3-point shooting team, so our 3-point defense, our multiple-effort mentality, and our fly-around mentality are going to be tested.”

Not really.

The Nuggets, led by history-maker Nikola Jokic, answered Malone’s challenge and ran away with a 124-101 victory.

“I felt that as a team, our hand activity was outstanding,” Malone said after the game. “I think we had 14 steals and we had 16 deflections. We had six blocked shots. Justin Holiday had four steals and six deflections by himself. Nikola and Justin were our defensive players of the game, and overall, I thought our defense was great.”

Jokic clinched yet another triple-double in the third quarter to become the first player in NBA history to have 10 or more triple-doubles in seven consecutive seasons, surpassing Oscar Robertson, who had six from 1960-61 through 1965-66. Jokic, who played just 30 minutes, finished the night with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his 10th triple-double in 26 games.

Brooklyn, which lives and dies by making threes, entered the game shooting 38.9% on 3-pointers (third-best in the league), and averaging 14.8 made threes per game (fourth). But Brooklyn shot just 8 for 30 from long distance (26.7%). At the end of the third quarter, they were just 5 of 21.

“Defense is a collective effort and it’s not just one (player),” Jokic said. “It’s about energy for the whole group. When you see the guy next to you is playing really hard, you are going to try and play with him.”

Denver received another strong performance from Peyton Watson off the bench, who continues to get important minutes. He scored a career-high 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists.

“I’m getting super comfortable and I think the game is slowing down a lot,” Watson said. “I put work in on my offensive game every single day. It’s something that I sharpen constantly. Sometimes it doesn’t come every day. I’m still getting my feet wet in this league, trying my best to help us on that side of the ball. I’m definitely happy I was able to come out tonight and have an impact on that side of the floor.”

Yet for all of their scrappy defense, Watson’s terrific performance, and another sublime performance by Jokic, the biggest crowd eruption of the night came in the fourth quarter when Christian Braun took the ball coast-to-coast and slammed the ball over Armoni Brooks. Players on the Nuggets’ bench went nuts.

Watson, who trailed Braun on the play, was jazzed, and a bit surprised, to see Braun throw down the power dunk.

“I kind of was surprised because Christian has so much bounce and I don’t think he even realizes how much bounce he has,” Watson said. “So sometimes he’s just cruising, but when he takes off, it’s going to be hard to beat him up top. So, watching the play from behind was just special.”

Both offenses became discombobulated in the second quarter until the Nuggets shifted their running game into a higher gear. At the 4-minute mark, Jokic snared a rebound and fired an outlet pass to Michael Porter Jr., who fed Aaron Gordan for a jam and a 43-32 Denver lead.

Denver’s defense limited the Nets to 17 points in the quarter on 8 of 24 shooting, including an 0-for-6 performance from beyond the arc. That led directly to a Nuggets’ 52-39 halftime lead.