{"id":272904,"date":"2021-06-12T08:08:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T05:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/suns-whip-nikola-jokics-nuggets-to-grab-3-0-series-lead\/"},"modified":"2021-06-12T08:08:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T05:08:48","slug":"suns-whip-nikola-jokics-nuggets-to-grab-3-0-series-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/suns-whip-nikola-jokics-nuggets-to-grab-3-0-series-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"#Suns whip Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets to grab 3-0 series lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Suns whip Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets to grab 3-0 series<\/a> lead<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

DENVER \u2014 Deandre Ayton scrutinized the box score and couldn\u2019t believe his eyes as he read Nikola Jokic\u2019s stat line: 32 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s insane. That\u2019s the MVP,\u201d Ayton said after the Phoenix Suns overcame the Joker\u2019s historic trip<\/a>le-double to thump Denver 116-102 Friday night, putting the Nuggets on the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n

Following a raucous pregame<\/a> ceremony celebrating his MVP award, Jokic joined Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players with 30 points, 20 boards and 10 assists in an NBA playoff game. Jokic, though, was apologetic afterward, telling his teammates this loss was on him because of his 13-for-29 shooting performance.<\/p>\n

Nonsense, said Denver guard Monte Morris, who called Jokic\u2019s performance phenomenal.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s carrying us,\u201d Morris said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris scored 21 off the bench but Denver\u2019s four other starters scored just 30 points, half by Michael Porter Jr., who was 5 of 13 from the floor.<\/p>\n

Devin Booker scored 28 points and teamed with Chris Paul to lead a steady offensive onslaught that countered Jokic\u2019s big night.<\/p>\n

\"Nikola
Nikola Jokic<\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe knew this was going to be an emotional game for them with Joker being presented with the trophy before the game,\u201d Paul said. \u201cWe just talked about withstanding their runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokic seemed to consider his big game more horrific than historic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m frustrated with myself because I missed shots,\u201d said Jokic, who also missed four of nine free throws. \u201cI didn\u2019t play on top of my game, especially shooting wise. It would be much easier for us if I started making shots. Of course, they\u2019re making it tough for me to make shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their sixth straight victory, the second-seeded Suns took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

Paul had 27 points, eight assists and three steals for the Suns, who pulled away after halftime for the third straight time. All five of Phoenix\u2019s starters scored in double figures.<\/p>\n

They are a one win away from their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2009-10 \u2014 which was the last time Phoenix made the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The third-seeded Nuggets, who reached the conference finals last year, are on the brink of getting swept in a playoff series for the first time since the Lakers bounced them out of the first round in 2007-08.<\/p>\n

Jokic dedicated his MVP award to his teammates during a loud pregame ceremony that Nuggets coach Michael Malone had hoped would energize his team that has lost by 17, 25 and now 14 points in this second-round series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel bad that we weren\u2019t able to pull out a win for them because they made this atmosphere electric,\u201d Malone said of the crowd of 18,277.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the trophy ceremony, we said right when they get off the court let\u2019s go out there and be locked in,\u201d Booker relayed.<\/p>\n

Suns coach Monty Williams said his team was ready for the energy boost the big crowd supplied by serenading Jokic.<\/p>\n

\"Devin
Devin Booker, who scored 28 points, looks to make a pass during the Suns\u2019 127-111 win over the Nuggets. <\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to disrespect Jokic\u2019s moment. At the same time, we also came here to win a game,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we stressed for a while, being able to have poise in those moments. Whether it\u2019s an emotional fouling situation or something like tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nuggets\u2019 first MVP was mostly MIA early on as the Suns shot a sizzling 74.46% in jumping out to a 37-27 lead after one quarter. Jokic scored seven points in that quarter but none until the 4:45 mark.<\/p>\n

Malone, who accused his team of quitting after a blowout loss in Game 2, said before tip-off that he liked his team\u2019s resiliency, and that opinion didn\u2019t change afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our guys played really hard. I think we let it all out there,\u201d Malone said. \u201cI really think this game came down to two things: turnovers\u201d and the Suns\u2019 14-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something they couldn\u2019t overcome, not even with their MVP giving them another epic MVP performance.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Suns whip Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets to grab 3-0 series lead” DENVER \u2014 Deandre Ayton scrutinized the box score and couldn\u2019t believe his eyes as he read Nikola Jokic\u2019s stat line: 32 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists. \u201cThat\u2019s insane. That\u2019s the MVP,\u201d Ayton said after the Phoenix Suns overcame the Joker\u2019s historic triple-double to thump Denver…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":272905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/Nikola-Jokic.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[109135,79031,108082,70381,106181,105147,88404],"class_list":["post-272904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-12-21","tag-chris-paul","tag-devin-booker","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nba-playoffs-2021","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-phoenix-suns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}