In a bit of foreshadowing, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was asked before Saturday night’s game about his team’s improved perimeter defense.
“It’s OK,” he said.
Turned out he was right not to say anything more.
Nikola Jokic finished with 35 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists, and the Nuggets shot 46.5 percent from 3-point range to avenge a loss to the Spurs on Thursday with a 127-112 win at the AT&T Center.
Propelled by a 20-0 run that bridged the end of the first half and the start of the third, the Nuggets (13-13) led by as many as 32 points early in the fourth quarter after losing 123-111 to the Spurs (9-16) two days earlier.
“Denver set a good example of how you react after a loss, and we did the opposite,” Popovich said. “We showed how you do not want to react after a win. They handled the loss well. We didn’t handle the win very well at all.”
Said Keldon Johnson, who scored 14 points on 5 of 7 from the floor in his return to the court after missing Thursday’s game with a sprained right ankle, “They came out and were determined. We came out kind of lackadaisical and laid back, and things happen.”
The Nuggets (13-13) sank 20 of 43 shots from beyond the arc in matching their season high for made 3s. Markus Howard aided Jokic with a season-best 21 points off the bench on a career-best 6 of 12 from distance.
The Spurs also had trouble defending Monte Morris, who had 19 points on 4 of 8 from distance, and Bones Hyland, who finished with 16 points off the bench on 4 of 9 from downtown.
“Like Pop said to me after the game, ‘Hey, that’s the way to respond. You got your group to respond from a tough loss and the guys deserve credit for doing so,’ ” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
Here are three takeaways from the third game of a five-game homestand for the Spurs that continues Sunday night against New Orleans:
Walker finds
some consistency
Following up his season-high-tying 21-point performance against the Nuggets on Thursday, Spurs guard Lonnie Walker finished with 16 points off the bench.
It was Walker’s first back-to-back double-digit games since Nov. 18 and Nov. 22 and just the fourth time this season he’s scored 10 or more points in consecutive games.
While it’s a modest streak, Walker will take it as he struggles to find consistency in his fourth season.
“I am 22 years old,” he said. “I still have a lot of growth to do. I still have a lot of learning to do. But day in and day out, I stay in the gym. I am coming into the gym after games. I am going after practice. I watch a ton of film. I try not to let that bother me. It’s a part of life. If you want to get to that next level you are going to have a bit of adversity.”
Jones backed up
Popovich’s praise
Popovich likes to call Tre Jones “the ultimate competitor,” and the second-year point guard backed it up by nearly notching his first double-double by matching his career high with 12 points to go along with a career-high nine rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.
With the starters watching from the bench the entire fourth quarter, the Spurs won the final frame 38-24 as Jones teamed primarily with fellow reserves Bryn Forbes, Devin Vassell, Keita Bates-Diop and Thad Young to make the final score somewhat respectable.
“We were just sloppy for the majority of the game and we didn’t want to continue that knowing that we have a game here in less than 24 hours,” Jones said.
There was no stopping
the MVP this time
With Jakob Poeltl leading the way, the Spurs managed to hold Jokic to 22 points on Thursday night. But this time around, the reigning league MVP put on a determined show by shooting 15 of 24 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from deep.
Jokic received two technical fouls but escaped ejection when the officials ruled the second was a non-unsportsmanlike technical for hanging on the rim on a dunk that gave Denver an 83-56 cushion with 9:25 left in the third.
“He is a great player,” Johnson said. “You see him out there and he does a little bit of everything. Just a great basketball player.”
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