Under normal circumstances, the Sunday game at MSG would be considered a trap for the visitors. Especially for those Western Conference teams that can only experience the New York nightlife once per season.
A Saturday night at 1Oak has sabotaged before.
But this is a pandemic. The clubs are closed. The Nuggets couldn’t even leave the hotel Saturday night for dinner.
“The NBA is trying to keep teams in their restricted hotels,” Denver coach Mike Malone said. “The list that came out for our approved restaurants – and in New York and Brooklyn there are no restaurants listed right now.”
So the Nuggets should’ve achieved maximum relaxation before Sunday’s game against the Knicks, and they certainly played like it in a 114-89 blowout victory. If anything, the Knicks looked gassed and disengaged. They were certainly outclassed by Nikola Jokic, the 7-foot Serbian, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in just 30 minutes. He had Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in a blender.
Tom Thibodeau knew before the game that Jokic would be a problem.
“He’s a special player,” the Knicks coach said. “Every aspect of his game. We’re seeing that in the league now – the skill set of the bigs is unusual. They’re like guards. He can shoot it, he can post. His passing is off the charts.
Jokic is averaging a triple-double and will be a MVP candidate if the Nuggets (5-5) continue their upward trend.
“They’ve been one of the best teams in the West for a while now. When you look at the steps they’ve taken, it’s gone along with (Jokic’s) development,” Thibodeau said. “That’s where I have great respect for him because he’s an all-around player.”
The Knicks (5-5) have dropped two straight, both at home, and outside of Julius Randle got little offensively. Randle finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds. He joined Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to score at least 200 points with 115 rebounds and 70 assists in the first 10 games. Jokic fell three rebounds short of the same nine of his 13 attempts. He’s shooting 37%t for the season, including 20% from beyond the arc. Immanuel Quickley also struggled with just two points on 0-for-4 shooting in 13 minutes.
The Knicks were never competitive, falling behind by 10 in the first quarter and 21 at the half.
The Nuggets dominated like a team prepared for an early Sunday tipoff.
