Knicks stifle Nikola Jokic, Nuggets to roll to fifth straight victory
The best basketball player on the planet looked average, and the Knicks took advantage.Besieged by early foul trouble and flustered late by the Knicks’ aggressiveness, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the triple-double machine, produced a single-double with just 17 points in New York’s fifth straight victory Wednesday, 122-112.Jalen Brunson was the best player on either team at MSG, racking up 30 points with 15 assists.The streaking Knicks (32-16), who now have consecutive statement wins after destroying the Grizzlies on Monday, remain one game back of second in the East behind the Celtics, who blew out the Bulls on Wednesday.Brunson was helped by five other Knicks scoring in double digits, including 23 from OG Anunoby.
On the other side, Jokic recorded just six assists and six rebounds on 6-for-15 shooting — all well below his MVP-caliber averages.Jokic’s rhythm was off from the beginning, having picked up two fouls after about two minutes.With Jokic sitting all but nine minutes of the opening half, the Knicks took an early 12-point lead and held a six-point edge at the break.Then Brunson took over with 18 points in the third quarter, sending Denver’s defenders in circles.Anunoby continued his resurgent end of January, dropping 14 points in the first half on 6-for-7 shooting.For Anunoby, who scored a career-high 40 points in Denver in late November, there’s something about facing the Nuggets.“OG was phenomenal that night [in November] and everyone contributed, their stars and their bench,” Denver coach Mike Malone said before Wednesday’s tipoff.
“And then look at what they did in their last two games, averaging 143 and making 17 3s in both games and scoring 20 a night in transition, 64 in the paint, dominated the offensive glass.“They are impacting the game across so many levels.Sometimes it’s like they are going to run you out of the gym.
They are going to shoot a lot of 3s.Right now, the Knicks are firing on all cylinders.
I don’t see a we...