Entry 15: "Back In The Win Column"
After A Narrow Win Against Atlanta, The Denver Nuggets Snap a Three Game Losing Streak
By: Liz
December 11, 2023
After a few grueling losses in a row, the Denver Nuggets bounce back and beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-122. This was a much needed bounce back win for Denver after they seemed off in their last few games, and bounce back they did.
To begin, we’ll discuss how Atlanta played tonight. Before his ejection in the third quarter, Trae Young had 26 PTS on 5/11 shooting [45%; 2/5 3PT], 9 AST, and 1 REB in 26 minutes. Young was ejected after receiving two back-to-back technical fouls for yelling at the officials. Dejounte Murray ended his night with 21 PTS on 8/23 shooting [34.7%; 7/7 FT], 3 AST, and 6 REB in 38 minutes. But, tonight's star was Bogdan Bogdanovic who had 40 PTS on 14/24 shooting [58.3%; 10/17 3PT] 3 AST, and 3 REB in 35 minutes. Bogdanovic earned himself a new career high tonight, and he put on one hell of a show.
As for Denver, most of the starters were playing very well today, with the exception of two. Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope both ended their night in single-digits [3 PTS, 3 AST, and 7 REB for Porter Jr.; 8 PTS, 2 AST, and 3 REB for Pope] and did not have luck with shooting the ball [1/11 for Porter Jr. (9%); 1/6 for Pope (16%)].
Aside from that, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray played much better than they had been previously. Aaron Gordon ended his night with 18 PTS on 7/10 shooting [70%; 4/5 FT], 1 AST, and 12 REB in 28 minutes. This was a far better performance than we’ve seen him put up recently. Nikola Jokić had 25 PTS on 9/13 shooting [69.2%; 1/1 3PT], 8 AST, 8 REB, 2 BLK, and 3 STL in 36 minutes. Just shy of another triple-double, but still a much better performance tonight than in the last two games. However, Jamal Murray stole the show tonight after a scare in the first quarter, ending up with 29 PTS on 12/15 shooting [80%; 4/5 3PT], 4 AST, 9 REB, 2 BLK, and 1 STL in 28 minutes. Murray rolled his ankle early in the first and sat on the bench until the second quarter. Regardless, he still came out and played with maximum effort tonight and earned a season high of 29 PTS.
While this was all good and well, the performance of the night would have to go to none other than Julian Strawther. Strawther put up 19 PTS and 4 STL in the first half! Though he didn’t score very much in the second, his performance in the first was enough to bring the Nuggets back from a double-digit deficit and helped them secure a solid win. He ended his night with 22 PTS on 8/16 shooting [50%; 6/11 3PT], 2 AST, 1 REB, and 5 STL in 28 minutes. A new career high for the rookie!
Now, I wasn’t the only one who thought Strawther performed well tonight, my dear friend Denver Disciple on X was also moved by his performance tonight saying, “The thing that’s so cool about this team is that we have guys who can step up. Julian [Strawther] was that guy tonight, as he led our bench to a season high 46 points.” I agree with his point about Strawther being the one to step up in tonight's game, he was a much needed piece in order to solidify this win.
Another friend of mine who goes by the name The Euro Podcast on X really enjoyed seeing Jamal Murray’s performance tonight saying, “A healthy Jamal Murray is to be feared. He's a menace to the league and tonight demonstrated that. 20 points with 2 blocks, Murray was HIM. Despite a [40] piece from Bogdanovich, the Nuggets weathered the storm, which is what good teams do.” This isn’t exactly how I would word my opinion on Jamal Murray tonight, but I won’t say I don’t agree that he played amazingly well. He played impressively, even after the scare early in the game.
The Nuggets go into Chicago tomorrow to face the Bulls in the second night of a back-to-back, their sixth of the season so far and it’s only December. We still have a long season ahead of us, and the Nuggets have a long journey ahead of them on their journey to repeat.
References:
NBA (2023) Denver Nuggets Vs. Atlanta Hawks: Box Score BleacherReport https://bleacherreport.com/game/denver-nuggets-vs-atlanta-hawks-2023-12-11-19-30