There is no way to stop Nikola Jokic (28, Denver Nuggets). It is the ‘Axis of Victory’ that organizes the team play of Denver, the strongest in the West.
Denver won 134-117 in a home game against the 2022-2023 NBA Golden State Warriors held at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, USA on the 3rd (Korean time). Denver, which won two consecutive wins, consolidated its first place in the Western Conference (36-16) and played four games with the second-place Memphis Grizzlies. Golden State, who has a busy road to advance to the playoffs, fell to ninth place after losing two days in a row.
24 wins and 4 losses at home this season. It was center Jokichi who turned the ball arena into an impregnable fortress. Yokichi scored 22 points, 14 rebounds and 16 assists in the game that day, recording his 17th ‘triple double’ of the season. It’s an overwhelming league 1st place. From the passing ability of the league’s 2nd in average assists (10), to the end-one turnaround play that dutifully digs under the goal at the end of the 2nd quarter, to the mid-range jumper in the middle of the 4th quarter, there was nothing that Yokichi couldn’t do on this day. 메이저놀이터
Jokic is also the closest to the regular league MVP trophy this season. Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) and Luca Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), who show ‘career high’ level skills, are chasing fiercely, but they are undisputed first in the best player race. If Yokichi, who had already won 2 consecutive victories in MBP until last season, stands at the top again this year, he will be the first player to win 3 consecutive victories in 36 years since Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) in the 1980s.
Centering around Jokic, who lubricates team play by enduring and sprinkling, Jamal Murray led the way in the win with 33 points and Kentavius Caldwell Pope with 18 points in Denver. In Golden State, Stephen Curry scored 28 points, including five 3-pointers, and Jordan Poole scored 22 points, but Andrew Wiggins (9 points, 21% field goal rate) was sluggish. Golden State was also far behind Denver in turnovers (17-11) and personal fouls (23-19) and was unable to win.
Meanwhile, in the game between the LA Lakers and the Indiana Pacers held earlier at the Gainbridge Field House in Indianapolis, the Lakers won 112-111 come-from-behind victory thanks to LeBron James (26 points). With the score that day, James left 63 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leading scorer in Mipro Basketball, with 38,387 points. Another history will be renewed within the next two or three games.