DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 24: Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets poses with LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter at Ball Arena on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 in Denver Brown James (23) addressed the referee as he emerged. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post
Dad 119, Lakers 107.
“Who is yours? dad? Earlier Tuesday night, fans cried as a parade of LeBron James jerseys filed out of the arena.
“Who is yours? dad?“
The Nuggets are.
The only thing more beautiful than a banner in the rafters is bragging rights. The NBA champions have defeated the Lakers five times in a row, whether in the playoffs or the regular season.
The Nuggets’ 12-point victory on ring night confirmed their longest winning streak by a mile against the West’s oldest and most stubborn money team since Denver’s seven-game winning streak from December 2012 to November 2014. . And ended James’ first five-game losing streak against the Nuggets since he played for the Cavaliers from January 2006 to February 2008.
“In the first game of the season,” Michael Malone said Tuesday night, “there wasn’t any clear-cut victory.”
Sorry, coach.
Sort of.
“We’re not going to do too much,” Malone continued. “We have to turn the page, learn from it and get ready for Memphis and OKC on the road.”
We understand that the power order in the West has not changed. With 10:18 left in the first half, Nuggets veteran Reggie Jackson drove LeBron into the corner. Jackson stretched out his right foot and accidentally stepped on LeBron’s left foot. King dropped to the ground like a football game, looking left and right, waiting for the usual call.
No one came.
While LeBron was on the court, Jackson adjusted himself and hit a 3-pointer.
Nuggets 40, James Sr. 22.
Banners are a celebration. The scoreboard was a confirmation.
Anthony Davis scored 17 points at halftime. Then he was gone. Grandpa alone cannot set this trend in motion.
The Kings finished with 21 points, most of them (as usual) at the basket. But the Nuggets are +29 when he’s not on the floor.
“I think LeBron just wasn’t there,” shrugged Jamal Murray, who scored 21 points. He smiled. “So that helps.”
Hunger helps too. That’s the question that pops into Shaquille O’Neal’s mind as we huddle in the dusty basement beneath the Tivoli Student Union, where the crew of TNT’s “Inside The NBA” actually takes to the Aularia campus stage Backstage before.
“It’s hard,” O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, said of the championship hangover. “This is human nature.
“I don’t know how sensitive Clowney and Jamal are, but the fact that they don’t get a lot of respectable media should bother them. That should be another motivating factor.
“I’m just joking now but no one knows (them). ‘Oh you don’t believe it’s me. ” So, is this true? So I don’t know what those people were like, how they reacted. The Joker seems to be someone who nothing can impress him. Never seems to be really angry, but he is the kind of person who will act according to his Players who play the way they play, who play their own style, who play their own game… you shouldn’t get bored after that. Most of these guys are title seekers. So I put (Joker) in the BMA, Big Shot League . He now has the title of the best Denver Nuggets. Does he want more? “We’ll see. “
He wanted more early Tuesday, hitting eight of his first 14 shots and nearly finishing the half with a double-double (19 points, nine rebounds).
“One of the things you have to worry about is that it’s not really Jokic or even Murray,” O’Neal’s TNT teammate Kenny “The Jet” Smith told me. “Guys that are 6-7-8-9, their energy is why they perform well. You lose (Bruce) Brown — but their energy, these guys sometimes think (it’s) their skill set because they get got the attention they normally don’t get. Now they have a few more ads locally.”
Smith has a word for it: fat catitis.
Short version? You don’t want it.
“I remember there was a guy on our team — he was on a championship team, but he didn’t even fit (up),” recalled Smith, who anchored the backcourt for Houston’s back-to-back championship teams in 1994 and ’95. “He did a local mattress commercial and was on local TV every day. He was walking around with sunglasses on. Like, ‘Bro, do you really (think that’s who you are)? So you got me What’s called “fat cat inflammation.” You have to not be a fat cat. And you have to stay hungry. Usually it’s (the rotation players) No. 5 to No. 9 who can get (it). “I won a championship. I was a key member. I got a good contract. I am fine. ‘No you’re not. We are not good. If you can go 5 versus 9, that’s fine. “
After three quarters, the Nuggets’ five through nine scorers — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the bench — combined for 32 points, six rebounds, three steals and a plus-minus of 14 .
All the stars aligned. Literally, some cases. Michael Porter Jr. entered the building wearing an orange Peyton Manning jersey. Payton Watson walked in wearing a Buffs jersey that said “COACH PRIME.”
Deion Sanders — the man himself — sat courtside, the new mile-tall royal, flanked by sons Deion Sanders Jr. and Shadl Shedeur Sanders and University of Colorado star Travis Hunter, smiling like children at Christmas,
“The road to repeat,” Aaron Gordon said, dropped the label and mission for the next eight months and changed.
“We got a ring,” Malone shouted into the microphone. “Who wants another one?”
Some also rang. 16 carats of diamonds, rubies and sapphires commemorating 16 playoff victories. Miami scored 89 points in Game 5, scoring 89 points. A hidden sliding compartment reveals a miniature championship banner.
“It’s a really great ring,” O’Neal said before the game.
It’s a (oops) team. still.
“We have a bullseye on our backs,” Malone said. “We’re going to get the best out of everybody … so what? It’s a game.”
Don’t make us turn this car around,’ Brown. The path to an NBA championship still runs through Speer.
“Jamal,” one reporter cheekily asked Murray, “did you hear that last line, ‘Who’s your dad?'”
Having said this, Lan Jian quickly turned around on his chair, stood up, jumped down from the rostrum, and broke in through the door. His only response was a heavy, audible sigh. Fatherhood has never felt so good.
Want more sports news? Subscribe to Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver teams.