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Posts tagged as “Nikola Jokic”

Steph Curry lead Team USA in a come-from-behind win over Serbia, advances to the Finals of the Men’s Olympic Basketball (95-91)

August 9, 2024

A Steph Curry exploding for 36 points, Lebron James triple-double and a 19-point game from Joel Embiid proved too much for Serbia to overcome, despite leading the game for the first three quarters (76-63). At one point, Serbia was ahead by as much as 17 points and seemed to be hitting every shot, especially from the 3-point line.

Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Serbian national team with 20 points, while Nikola Jokic added 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 11 assists. Aleksa Avramovic scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. However, as a team, they shot 38.5% from the 3-point line, especially in the final period when their shots started to miss.

As much offensive firepower as Team USA possessed, it was their defense that secured the win. Trailing by 13 points entering the fourth quarter, Team USA clamped down on Serbia, allowing just 15 points in the quarter after surrendering an average of 25.33 points in the first three quarters. Embiid and James made several stops that led to 9 fast-break points, and it was the bench players who helped turn the game around for the Americans.

Steph Curry led the team with 36 points and 8 rebounds, falling just one point short of tying Carmelo Anthony’s 37-point record at the 2012 London Olympics. LeBron James contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, his second triple-double in the Olympics. The “crowd-favorite,” Joel Embiid, scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Team USA will face Team France in the gold medal game this Saturday, August 10th, while Serbia will play Germany for the bronze medal.

Team USA Routs Serbia Behind Durant’s Near-Perfect Game (110-84)

July 29, 2024

Team USA routed Serbia in their first group game at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kevin Durant delivered a near-flawless performance with 23 points, shooting 8-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. LeBron James added 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.

It was a basketball clinic by the Americans, firing on all cylinders. Offensively, they shot 62% from the field, made more than half of their 3-point attempts, and tallied 24 assists. On the defensive end, Team USA recorded 3 blocks, 9 steals, and 39 rebounds. The team also forced Serbia into 13 turnovers, converting 25 points from those turnovers.

Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Serbia kept the game close in the first half, but the Americans pulled away when Serbia’s outside shooting cooled down. They made only 9 of their 37 attempts from beyond the arc.

Team USA will have a rematch with South Sudan, while Serbia will face Puerto Rico on July 31st.

Denver Nuggets are the 2023 NBA Champions, franchise’s first in the 47 years in the league

June 13, 2023

The Denver Nuggets just bagged their first NBA Championship after defeating the Miami Heat in a one of the lowest scoring game in the series (94-89).

In the first half, Miami was poised to take the series back home until Nikola Jokic carried the Nuggets with with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Jokic also took home the Bill Russell trophy as the NBA Finals MVP, which carry more weight than the 2021 and 2022 Regular Season MVP trophies.

Nuggets outlast the Heat in a game that’s more favorable to the style of Miami Heat, a low scoring, physical and close game, no team lead more than 2 points in the last 2 minutes of the game. It was in the closing minutes that made the difference; Bruce Brown got an offensive rebound and tip-in to give the Nuggets, then Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope capitalize on a Heat turnover and made two free throws each that sealed the title for Denver.

This is the first time in the franchise’s 47 years in the league and if they keep the core players, we may see the Nuggets making a deep run in every year, lead by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

Denver Nuggets takes 3-0 lead over the LA Lakers in the WCF

May 21, 2023

Denver Nuggets are 1-win away for their first NBA Finals appearance after defeating the LA Laker in the game 3 of the Western Conference finals. This is the first home lost of the Lakers in the post-season. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA playoff history but Lebron James remain optimistic in his postgame interview.

For second straight games, Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 37 points, 7 rebs and 6 assists, followed Nikola Jokic scoring 24 points with 8 assists but was plague by foul trouble in the game. the Nuggets due received a lot of help from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who finished with 17 points, scoring 12 points in the second half, while Michael Porter Jr. chipped-in 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high of 6 assists.

Anthony Davis scored 28 points and 18 rebounds for the Lakers but was -12 in the plus/minus column, while James made 23 points with 12 assists and Austin Reaves added 23 points and 7 rebounds but they could not counter Nuggets balanced offence in the clutch. Five Nuggets players are in double figures which includes Bruce Brown’s 15 pts with 5 rebounds and 5 assists; Michael Porter Jr. with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Game 4 will still be in LA which is a must for Lakers so they can extend the series to Game 5.