Entry 9: "And Just Like That, The NBA Season Has Begun"
Your Denver Nuggets Have Won The First Game of The Season
By: Liz
October 24, 2023
October 24, 2023, a day that will live in infamy among the Denver Nuggets and their fans. What a perfect beginning to any season for Denver. Your Denver Nuggets received the first ever ring in franchise history, raised the first banner in franchise history, and defeated the same team they swept in the Western Conference Finals all in the same night. It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life.
For starters, watching the Denver Nuggets receive their rings was surreal. I’ve watched teams like the Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks, etc., receive their rings on opening night, but seeing my team receive them was incredible. I won’t lie, I bawled my eyes out as the banner was raised, but only because this has been something I have seriously wanted for the better part of a decade. As my dear friend, CB's Burner, on X said, “I got up and ran around my apartment screaming.” As much as I would like to deny that, I did, in fact, run around my apartment screaming, but only when the Nuggets were playing.
Onto the game. Game one of the NBA regular season began today with the Defending Champion Denver Nuggets versus the Los Angeles Lakers, and it was a glorious game. Both teams brought their all, but it was no surprise that Denver ended up the victor in this matchup. After claiming that the Nuggets players and staff talked about them “all summer,” the Los Angeles Lakers have yet to prove that all the ‘talk’ they’ve been hearing or have heard has done anything but live in their heads since being swept.
Anyway, before I get off topic, both teams had decent games today. On LA’s side of things, Lebron James had 21 PTS on 10/16 shooting [roughly 63%], 8 REB, and 5 AST in his 29 minutes; Anthony Davis had 17 pts on 6/17 shooting [roughly 35%, 4/4 FTA; 0 second-half points], 8 REB, and 4 AST in his 34 minutes; and Taurean Prince had 18 PTS on 6/8 shooting [75%, 4/6 from the 3 (roughly 67%)] and 3 REB in his nearly 30 minutes of play. While this is all good and well, the Nuggets couldn’t help but pick up exactly where they left off.
On Denver’s side, the starting five had a wonderful night, looking much like they had during their championship run last season. Michael Porter Jr. ended with 12 Pts on 5/13 shooting [roughly 39%] and 12 REB in his 30 minutes; Aaron Gordon had 15 PTS on 7/11 shooting [roughly 64%], 7 REB, and 5 AST in his nearly 35 minutes; Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 20 PTS on 8/12 shooting [roughly 67%, 2/3 from the 3] in his 36 minutes; Jamal Murray had 21 PTS on 8/13 shooting [roughly 62%, 3/5 from the 3] and 6 AST in his 34 minutes; and, of course, Nikola Jokić ended his night with 29 PTS on 12/22 shooting [roughly 55%, 3/5 from the 3], 13 REB, and 11 AST, making this his first triple-double of the 2023-24 season.
This was Jokić’s 106th career triple-double, making him only one triple-double away from tying Lebron James and Jason Kidd (both have 107)* and only 32 away from tying Irving “Magic” Johnson (138) for third on the All-Time Triple-Double list.
*The article I referenced has him at 105, but it was written hours before tonight's game.
The play I would like to talk about the most was the block Christian Braun had on Lebron James. The sophomore received his ring and almost immediately picked up where he left off defensively in the NBA Finals just four months ago. While he will most likely continue working on his offense, though he had two high-arcing layups, his defense hasn’t stopped since winning the title.
The season has a long way to go from here, but taking the first game of the season in front of their home crowd against the team they took out in four games not too long ago, while sitting on a much deserved and overdue ring was the sweetest victory thus far. Looking forward to seeing where things go from here.
References:
Nba.com (October 24, 2023) Nuggets Roll Out on Ring Night NBA https://www.nba.com/game/lal-vs-den-0022300061/box-score
Rafferty, Scott (October 24, 2023) Who Has The Most Triple-Doubles In NBA History? Where LeBron James, Nikola Jokić Rank On Full List SportingNews https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/most-triple-doubles-nba-history-full-list/6fd4925cbe7b5445c93302db