NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic has triple-double as Nuggets beat Lakers in NBA season opener
Jokic #Jokic
The Denver Nuggets raised their championship banner Tuesday night, then dropped the hammer on the Los Angeles Lakers with a 119-107 victory fueled by Nikola Jokic’s triple-double.
Jokic had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the NBA’s season opener. Jamal Murray added 21 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 20, Aaron Gordon had 15 and Michael Porter Jr. had 12.
All of LA’s starters also scored in double figures, led by LeBron James’ 21 points in 29 minutes – his playing time is being monitored at the start of his 21st season.
Taurean Prince scored 18 points his debut for the Lakers, his fifth team in nine seasons, Anthony Davis had 17 points, Austin Reaves 14 and D’Angelo Russell 11.
The Lakers trailed by 18 early but trimmed that deficit to 63-54 at halftime and used a 13-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull within 87-84 before Aaron Gordon stopped the run with a 3-pointer.
The Lakers never got closer.
After James’ basket got Los Angeles within 103-96 with just over five minutes remaining, the Nuggets called timeout and came out of it with a 10-3 run featuring 3-pointers by Murray and Porter to put the Lakers away.
The Nuggets received their gold, diamond-encrusted championship rings in a pregame ceremony. Murray, wearing a microphone, told teammate Gordon, “I might play the first quarter with it!”
Denver Coach Michael Malone held his ring up high, grabbed the mic and hollered, “Last year was amazing. We got our ring. Who wants another? Let’s go get it!”
The Nuggets went 16-4 in the playoffs – including a sweep of the Lakers – and finished things off by closing out Miami in five games to start a summer of celebrations from Denver’s delirious downtown to Jokic’s hometown of Sombor, Serbia.
NOTES
BUCKS: Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to make sure his contract status didn’t distract the Milwaukee Bucks as they made a run at another championship.
That’s one reason the two-time MVP changed his mind and signed a three-year, $186 million extension rather than waiting until next summer to make his future plans known.
Antetokounmpo, 28, explained his decision Tuesday, one day after announcing on social media he had agreed to the extension.
“I don’t need the media talks to be about my contract and if I’m going to stay, if I’m going to leave,” Antetokounmpo said. “Because I knew in my heart that I wanted to stay. I don’t want people, when we lose a game to come back and say, ‘Oh, Giannis is being irritated, he doesn’t like what’s going on, this, that, he’s going to leave, blah, blah, blah.’ No. The conversation right now is going to be straight basketball.”
Antetokounmpo noted he made a similar decision back in 2020, when he signed his supermax extension about a week before the start of the season rather than pursuing free agency the following summer. The Bucks went on to win their first title in a half-century.
“It was very helpful,” Antetokounmpo recalled. “I didn’t have to think about it. And I don’t think it’s just helpful to me, it’s helpful to the team too. They don’t want to hear about, ‘Oh, Giannis is leaving. Giannis is staying’ the whole year.”
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