The San Antonio Spurs had their 11-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night as they lost to the Denver Nuggets at a packed Ball Arena in Colorado.
This is the Denver Nuggets' eighth win in a row!
This MVP duel was marked by two of the best centers of today, Nikola Jokić and Viktor Vembanjama.
Jokić scored 40 points with 8 rebounds, 13 assists, 3 blocks and no turnovers! Christian Brown had 21, Cameron Johnson 17, and Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray each had 15 points, with the Canadian also having 10 assists. In San Antonio, Victor Vembanyama had 34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and only one turnover!
Stephon Castle scored 20 points with 5 rebounds and 9 assists, Vassell and Champenis added 18 each, Dieron Fox had 14, and Keldon Johnson had 10 points. An incredible 79 points were scored in the first quarter and San Antonio already had a big 43:36 lead.
Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama caused big problems for the Nuggets and scored 22 of those 43 points, or half.
Nikola Jokić, on the other hand, had an excellent performance and scored 10 points with 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
In that part of the game, 13 three-pointers were scored, 6 of which were by the Nuggets, and the seventh three-pointer for the Colorado team was scored by Tim Hardaway Jr. right at the start of the second quarter, reducing the deficit to 43:39.
The Nuggets didn't get much from that three-pointer and their run was stifled, so the Spurs reached 51:39 thanks to a quick 8:0 run.
Denver was unable to score three minutes after Hardaway's three-pointer, and Jonas Valanciunas broke the drought and reduced the deficit from 51:39 to 51:42 after a "2+1" situation.
The Nuggets managed to get back to a single-digit deficit when the Spurs were up +13 again with points from Harper and Kessel, so at halftime it was 72:65 in favor of the Spurs.
Then Jokić had 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and was the most efficient player of the game, and Viktor Vembanjama had a double-double performance of 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Nuggets started the third quarter very well and quickly closed to 77:74, which forced coach Mitch Johnson to call a timeout.
Gordon and Jokić managed to get close with great cooperation, but then the Spurs escaped with a three-pointer by Vembanjama to 85:77, followed by an assist from Jokić for Brown, who returned the three-pointer and the scoring.
When Castle and Johnson scored for 92:82 and +10, it seemed like the Nuggets had lost their stride, and then... Denver scored 10 quick points and in an instant it was 94:92, and with Keldon Johnson's basket, the Spurs had a 96:92 lead before the final 12-minute period.
And the fourth quarter was a real spectacle! With Vembanjama leading the way, San Antonio outscored Denver 107:96, only for Jokić and Hardaway to get the series back on track and cut it to 107:104 with Nikola's three-pointer.
San Antonio took the lead again, 111:104, but the home team responded with a Jokić basket from half-distance to reduce the score to 115:113, before Jamal Murray hit a three-pointer and brought about the turnaround!
Denver took a 116:115 lead with his basket, and then Murray committed his fourth personal foul and fouled Stephon Castle on a three-point shot, giving him free throws.
He didn't miss it and with five quick points he gave the Spurs the lead back, and with Vembanjama's dunk it was 122:116 with a minute and a half left in the game.
Denver came back to life with a three-pointer by Gordon, then Jokić joined in and they reduced the score to 124:122, only for Castle to miss the entire basket and give Denver a chance to tie the game, which Gordon took advantage of and tied the score at 124:124, so it went into overtime!
The first basket in overtime was made by Nikola Jokić, only for Čempeni to respond with a three-pointer, followed by an all-up pass to Aaron Gordon, who dunked and gave the Nuggets back a half-point lead, 128:127.
It was his sixth three-pointer, tying Danny Green's record for most three-pointers made in a single San Antonio game.
Nikola Jokić was the superhero that Denver needed the most, and with 8 points in overtime, he single-handedly brought the Nuggets a triumph, with special emphasis on the shot over Vembanjama for 133:129.
The Nuggets managed to "survive" the San Antonio Spurs and defend their home court. This victory will give them confidence ahead of the final games of the regular season and especially the playoff basketball.
They reached their 50th win of the season, tied with the Lakers and are making an unstoppable attack on the 3rd place in the West after the Lakers were left without Dončić and Austin Reeves due to injuries.
