Cavs’ 3-point barrage tops Nuggets despite Nikola Jokic’s monster game
Nikola Jokic moved to No. 3 in career triple-doubles with 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 assists at Cleveland, but his Denver Nuggets couldn’t withstand the host Cavaliers’ three-point barrage and lost, 126-114, on Thursday night, December 5 (Friday, December 6, Manila time).
Jokic’s 139th career triple-double broke a tie with Magic Johnson on the all-time list. It was also his second triple-double with 20-plus points and 20-plus rebounds this season.
The Cleveland quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, and Evan Mobley, however, responded by combining to make 17 treys and rack up 93 points.
Led by Mitchell’s 28 points and 6-of-10 shooting from long range, Cleveland’s perimeter shooting gave the Cavaliers a nearly wire-to-wire victory.
The advantage swelled to as many as 18 points on multiple occasions in the second half before Denver battled to cut the deficit to single digits late in the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run.
LeVert, who scored 21 points off the bench, helped counteract the Denver burst by nailing the last of his five three-pointers on six attempts.
After the Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. scored two of his 24 points on the ensuing possession, Mitchell came back down and sank another three-pointer off of one of LeVert’s 6 assists.
The back-to-back triples snuffed out any hope of a Denver rally and reflected the story of the night.
???? THURSDAY'S FINAL SCORES ????
— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2024
Donovan Mitchell drops 28 and the @cavs are the first team to reach 20 wins this season!
Darius Garland: 24 PTS, 4 AST
Caris LeVert: 21 PTS, 6 AST
Evan Mobley: 20 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL pic.twitter.com/HXN5t7796R
While Cleveland shot 22-for-48 (45.8%) from beyond the arc, with five Cavaliers making multiple 3-pointers, the Nuggets went just 6-for-24 (25%) from deep.
Mobley shot 3-for-5 from three-point range and 7-for-11 from the floor overall en route to 20 points. He also tallied 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
Garland added 24 points and4 assists. He shot 3-for-10 from outside. Jarrett Allen chipped in 8 points, 6 assists, and 15 rebounds.
Aaron Gordon scored 18 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for Denver. Jamal Murray added 19 points, and both Russell Westbrook and Christian Braun recorded 10 points.
Congrats to Nikola Jokić of the @nuggets for moving to 3rd on the all-time TRIPLE-DOUBLES list! pic.twitter.com/2iR8f4GxM6
— NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2024
– Rappler.com