Nikola Jokić leads Denver Nuggets to Game 1 Victory against the LA Lakers (132 – 126)

The Denver Nuggets looked like choosing the victory after they took the lead against LA Lakers, Nikola Jokić slayed with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists for the victory of the Nuggets. Denver Nuggets entered the game with a record of 6-0 at home during the postseason, meanwhile the Lakers had took the road wins in Game 1 of each of their previous two series. In the playoffs of NBA Lakers were down by as many as 21 points in the second half, before making the lead to three with just some minutes remaining.

Nikola Jokić commonly known as a professional basketball player from Serbia. Nikola Jokić is known for his versatility basketball IQ, and exceptional passing skills as a center. Back in the days Nikola Jokić started his professional career playing for KK Mega basket in Serbia. In 2014, he entered the NBA draft and was selected with the 41st overall pick by the Denver Nuggets. He joined the Nuggets for the 2015-2016 NBA season and quickly made an impact. He has a unique playing style for a center, combining excellent court vision, passing ability, and shooting range.

Jokic’s ability to read the game and make precise passes has earned him the nickname “The Joker.”

In the 2020-2021 NBA season, Nikola Jokić had a breakout year, earning the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He became the first center to win the award in over 20 years. Nikola Jokić exceptional playmaking skills, scoring ability, rebounding, and overall impact on the court have made him one of the most exciting players to watch in the NBA.

In NBA 2023 playoffs Jokić was unstoppable through all three-quarters of the contest, then Rui Hachimura switched onto the Serbian seven-footer with great defensive effect in the last quarter. Jokić still finished with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists.

Roaster Nuggets

Jamal Murray who dropped 31 points in season while, Bruce Brown exploded off the Nuggets bench for 16 points and had a huge whisper throughout the contest.  Therefore the LA Lakers, Anthony Davis led the way with 40 points, going head-to-head challenging Jokić. Meanwhile LeBron James had 26 points and nine assists, but the attention grabbing was Austin Reaves who made big plays to bring up 23 points, 11 in the fourth, to go along with eight assists.

After a long time Nuggets have taken the Game 1 against Lakers

After battling the dramatic air Denver Nuggets beat the LA Lakers in the opener of the West finals for the first time ever. The Nuggets had not taken any Game 1 against the Lakers since 1979, when they won the opener of the best of three series only to lose the next two. That was only the closest time when Nuggets have ever come to eliminating the Lakers. Who have beaten Denver three times in the West finals, including in the Florida bubble in 2020. Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points against his former team. Michael Porter Jr. had 15 points and 10 boards and Bruce Brown added 16 points.

Michael Malone said expectations are unrealistic

Michael Malone the head coach of Denver Nuggets said before the Game 1 against LA Lakers, Sometimes the expectations are just unrealistic, and ownership is just impatient, “I feel really fortunate to be working for the people that I work for. In today’s NBA”. Most of the coaches  missed the playoffs in their first three seasons, as the Malone who wouldn’t get a chance to come back for fourth season. Now Malone got the chance, and look what’s happened since back-to-back MVPs for Nikola Jokić and two trips to the Western Conference Finals in the past three seasons.

Praises about the game

• In an interview Caldwell-pope declared after seeing Jokic’s wonderful performance” I feel like the only difference is LeBron can jump higher than Jokic,” 

• In a reply Nikola Jokic said” That’s really offensive,” “I’m joking. I mean, to be compared to one of the best ever – or THE best ever – I think is really cool.”

• James Lebron said, Yeah it took us a half to get into the game, and that was pretty much the ballgame right there. They punched us in the mouth to start. I know the game is won in 48 minutes, but they set the tone in 24 minutes and we were playing catch-up for the next 24.

Now it would be interesting to watch what happens in the next matches as they are nearby Game 2 is on 19 May, and Game 3 is on 21 May 2023.