Tonight NBA recap and scores 12/03/2023 !!

                      Focus 

   

  These new version Nets are decidedly surprising and in a good way. Here they are who have just inflicted a third straight loss on Denver, the leader of the West, in Colorado, and having survived another triple-double from Nikola Jokic (35 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists) and a late Nuggets comeback !! This is the fifth victory in six games for the Brooklyn Nets, who defeated the Denver Nuggets (122-120) despite a big triple-double from Nikola Jokic !! 

              Brooklyn vs Nuggets 

    

   Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets held off a late rally and another triple-double from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120 on Sunday. 

Nic Claxton had 20 points and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each for Brooklyn, which has won five of its last six games. 

Bridges and Dinwiddie, acquired in trades last month that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix and Kyrie Irving to Dallas, have been key to Brooklyn's resurgence even as they still adjust to their new team and their new teammates. 

"Even though we don't know what we're doing sometimes, just jamming, the five guys help each other out," Bridges said. "Sometimes it won't be perfect, but I think the next guy who steps up is the most important thing."

Jokic had 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season but missed a contested 14-foot jumper with 5 seconds left that would have given the Nuggets the lead. . 

Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for Denver, which tied a season high with its third straight loss. 

"Tough loss," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "Our guys fought back, gave themselves a chance at the end."

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn described his team's third quarter, in which they beat the Nuggets 37-18 and shot 63%, as one of the most impressive quarterbacks he has ever had. seen from his time with the team. 

"We started flying, 15 turnovers we produced tonight, our ability to be disruptive," Vaughn said. "We stuck together for an impressive win on the road."

Denver's Jamal Murray, who finished with 16 points, was forced to sit out in the fourth quarter with left knee pain. Malone said Murray, who missed the latter part of the 2020-21 season and all of last season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in the same knee, will be evaluated. 

Trailing by eight points at the break, Brooklyn fought back to take an 80-77 lead over Bridges' jumper midway through the third quarter. The Nets extended their lead to 98-87 as Royce O'Neale and Joe Harris connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds of the period. 

Harris hit another 3-pointer to give the Nets a 109-94 advantage with 8:11 to go, Brooklyn's biggest lead to that point. The Nuggets weren't gone, however, shooting 116-110 on a three-point play from Christian Braun and Jokic's floater with 4:41 remaining. 

Denver went 121-120 on a pair of free throws from Jokic with 41.6 seconds left and the Nuggets won a challenge with 23.2 seconds left to call off a foul call on Jokic and take possession, but Jokic then missed the potential shot. The Nuggets fouled Bridges with 1.8 seconds remaining and he made one of two free throws. 

Jokic's jumper at the buzzer fell short !!

Brooklyn opened up a 49-39 lead on Seth Curry's 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the second quarter, but the Nuggets closed the period on a 30-12 run to take a 69-61 lead at the half time. Jokic unleashed the flurry, scoring 10 of his points in that span, and capped it off, coming up 33 feet to hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer !! 

                Knicks vs Lakers 

   

 The Knicks needed to bounce back after their three straight losses and the task did not look easy on the Lakers floor and without Jalen Brunson. New York has found the resources to move forward, thanks in particular to Julius Randle (33 pts) and RJ Barrett (30 pts). Dominated, the Angelenos still gave their visitors cold sweats by returning to 2 points 19 seconds from the end, but Josh Hart folded the deal on the line !! 

   D'Angelo Russell had 33 points and 8 assists, his best total of the season, but was limited to 2 points in the 4th quarter, a window he usually shines in !! 

             Cleveland vs Hornets 

  

   Cleveland got scared in Charlotte, but managed to turn it around and come back from a 16-point deficit to ultimately win. Darius Garland (28 pts), Donovan Mitchell (23 pts) and Evan Mobley (18 pts) managed to force the decision, the first scoring the winning shot 10 seconds from time !! 

 

          Philadelphia vs Wizzards

 And 5 for Philadelphia! The Sixers earned another home win over Washington to keep Milwaukee and Boston under pressure. The players of Doc Rivers did not tremble for a second, in the wake of Joel Embiid (34 pts) and James Harden (18 pts, 14 pds) !! 

On the side of the Wizards, Corey Kispert scored 25 points, his NBA record !!

- Trey Murphy chose the right moment to slam 41 points (his NBA record) and lead the Pelicans to victory. Portland, which NOLA beat on Sunday, is a direct opponent for the play-in tournament and a success was essential !! 

With 9 3-point baskets, Murphy orchestrated the blowout of the Blazers who are starting to see the waterline move away after this third consecutive defeat... !! 

Damian Lillard was unable to reply for 3 points, as he did not participate in this match due to calf pain !!

- Ousmane Dieng actively participated in the victory of the Thunder on the Spurs floor. The French, more and more involved in the rotation of Mark Daigneault, put up 17 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes, to support the excellent Jalen Williams (21 pts, 10 pds, 7 rebounds) and Josh Giddey (15 pts, 11 rbds, 5 pds) !!

OKC and 10th, with the same record (33-35) as the Jazz (9th), the Lakers (11th) and the Pelicans (12th). The battle promises to be fierce and indecisive !! 

             Pelicans vs Blazers

“Trey was incredible," Pelicans coach Willie Green said of the club's 2021 first-round draft choice. "He’s a shot-maker and he’s having an unbelievable year. I’m extremely proud of him.” !!

Murphy, who participated in the dunk contest during NBA All-Star weekend last month, also had a couple baskets of the high-flying variety, scoring his final points on a driving, two-handed reverse dunk before checking out of the game for good to a standing ovation !!

“My game is a very diverse game," Murphy said. "I can score in many different ways. So, I guess ending with an exclamation point like a dunk is pretty cool.” !!

CJ McCollum had 22 points and 11 assists for New Orleans, which made 18 of its first 30 3-point attempts as a team before finishing 19 of 40 (47.5%) from deep !!

Josh Richardson scored 19 points for the Pelicans, who won for the second time in two games as they try to stay in contention for a Western Conference postseason berth !!

Herbert Jones added 16 points, and Jonas Valanciunas had 11 points and 12 rebounds to help New Orleans win handily despite playing for a second straight game without high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram (right ankle) !!

The Blazers played without star guard and leading scorer Damian Lillard, who sat out because of tightness in his right calf !! 

Anfernee Simons scored 17 for Portland, while Shaedon Sharpe and Kevin Knox each scored 14 points and Cam Reddish added 11 !!

“Trey Murphy had a night; guys are going to have a night, but we didn’t challenge him enough," Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. "We didn’t try to be aggressive at all and we didn’t make the adjustments. Those are the things that are difficult for me as a coach.” !!

Coming off a lackluster, double-digit home loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday night that saw them trailing by 21 in the first half, the Pelicans flipped the script against Portland !!

Murphy hit five of his 3s and scored 25 points in the opening 24 minutes, when New Orleans led by as many as 20 !!

“I definitely felt like we responded very well” to the previous night's loss, Murphy said. “We had a lot of pace today.” !!

McCollum had all of his points in the first half and the veteran guard was able to go to the bench for good after playing just 30 minutes !!

“We’ve been a bit inconsistent in our play but tonight was a game that we were locked into the details and the game plan was excellent. That’s what it takes,” Green said. “And it’s fun when we can play like that.” !!

New Orleans led 74-54 at halftime and led by as many as 39 points in the second half, too much for Portland to overcome !!

“I feel like we didn’t get out to the start we needed and we were just putting a lot of pressure on the bench,” Portland wing player Nassir Little said. “It’s tough trying to overcome that type of deficit and then maintain that through the course of the game " !!

  Summary of the scores of this night 

     Nuggets - Nets : 120-122

     Hornets - Cavaliers : 108-114

    Sixers - Wizards : 93-112

    Pelicans - Trail Blazers : 127-110

    Spurs - Thunder : 90-102

    Lakers - Knicks : 108-112 

         Brooklyn vs Nuggets Stat Summary

    Brooklyn Nets              Denver Nuggets

       122                     Pts                        120 

        28                     Reb                          49

       32                      Ast.                          27

       11                      Stl                             4 

        2                        Blk.                          8

         8.                      TO                           15

      50.0                     FG%.                      50.0

       38 .6                   3P%                        38.7

        87.5                  FT%.                        75.0 

              Leading Players 

          PTS                                         REB

Nikola Jokic ³⁵                         Nikola Jokic ²⁰

Mikal Bridges ²⁵                    Spencer Denwiddie ⁶

            AST                                        BLK

Nikola Jokic ¹¹                         Nikola Jokic ²

Spencer Denwiddie ¹⁶          Spencer Denwiddie ¹