Denver Nuggets @ Brooklyn Nets
Friday, December 22, 2023 at 7:30 PM ET
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY | Game ID: 22300383
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
BKN 28 32 26 31 117DEN 28 30 30 34 122
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Murray, Jokic help defending champion Nuggets outlast Nets, 122-117
NEW YORK -- — Jamal Murray scored 32 points, Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 11 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets held off the Brooklyn Nets 122-117 on Friday night for their third straight victory.
Aaron Gordon added 18 points and Michael Porter Jr . had 15 to help the defending champion Nuggets improve to 20-10.
“The energy we need to start the game right,” Jokic said when asked why Denver has won four straight on the road. “I think we had a 14-7 run (to start the game) and we kind of slowed down a little bit. But (we need to) be the aggressor. We need the one to be the one (controlling) the game.”
Brooklyn has lost five in a row to fall to 13-15.
Cam Thomas led Brooklyn with 23 points. Cam Johnson had 17, Dorian Finney-Smith and Mikal Bridges each had 14, Royce O’Neale and Day’Ron Sharpe had 13 apiece and Nic Claxton finished with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
“It’s a pretty good recipe for us,” Brooklyn coach Jacques Vaughn said about the balanced scoring. “I think we had 18 assists at (halftime), over 30 to finish the game; seven dudes in double figures.”
Thomas’ four-point play with 19.4 seconds brought the Nets within one.
“Overall, a good effort from our guys,” Vaughn said. “I think we put ourselves in a position to try and win a ballgame. I thought our attention for the majority of the night was in the right place."
Following a timeout, Murray made three of four free throws to push the advantage to four. The teams then spent the final five seconds trading free throws.
“It worked out,” Murray said about his missed free throw with 18.1 seconds left.
The guard grabbed the offensive rebound and was immediately fouled by Thomas. He then knocked down both free throws to give the Nuggets a 118-114 lead.
The Nets did not have Ben Simmons (left lower back nerve impingement) and Lonnie Walker IV (strained left hamstring) due to injuries.
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Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
JM J. Murray
JS J. Strawther
JO Jokic
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RJ R. Jackson
ZN Z. Nnaji
BKNCJ C. Johnson
CT C. Thomas
DF D. Finney-Smith
DS D. Sharpe
DS D. Smith Jr.
MB M. Bridges
NC N. Claxton
RO R. O'Neale
SD S. Dinwiddie
DEN/BKN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur