By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Behind a late surge, the Denver Nuggets edged out the Toronto Raptors, 121-119, in Ball Arena on Monday.
Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic piled up 28 points plus 14 rebounds and 13 assists in his latest triple-double. He added two blocks and one assists over 38 minutes. With seven points in the fourth quarter, he pushed his side to 4-3 in the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the team coached by Darko Rajakovic had a double-digit lead.
“In the end, we did not do a good job against their physical defense,” mentioned the Serbian head coach, “We need to learn how to play through that physicality, we need to be strong with the ball, and how we can take advantage of defense like that.”
His starting center, Austrian Jakob Poeltl posted a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double before fouling out down the stretch. Following his ejection, the Raptors were outscored 14-8 and forced down to 2-6.
“He did a very good job. He gave his best fight against him,” Rajakovic commented on the Poeltl matching up with the Joker, “I think, overall, he played a very good game against the best player in the world.”
“It is a lot of work, for sure,” added the 29-year-old big, “They run every action through him, in some sort of way. So, you are always going to be engaged.”
The Nuggets missed Slovenian Vlatko Cancar (right ankle sprain) besides floor general Jamal Murray (concussion protocol). Also, Aaron Gordon exited in the first quarter due to a right calf strain. Croatian Dario Saric stayed on the bench.