MINUTI	34
POENI	32
SKOKOVI	18
ASISTENCIJE	10
ŠUT	12-22 | 54.5%
TROJKA	2-3 | 66.7%
SLOBODNA BACANJA	6-7 | 85.7%
BLOKADE	0
OSVOJENE LOPTE	1
IZGUBLJENE LOPTE	1

If Nikola was fired up over his one-game suspension, it was hard to tell.

„He came back and did what we expect him to do,“ coach Michael Malone said.

„He was a huge part of our attack and made the right play time and time again,“ Malone said after watching Jokic score 32 points, pull down 18 rebounds and dish out 10 assists. „He’s proven why he’s an All-NBA type player. Thank goodness he’s in a Nuggets uniform.

Jokic, the Nuggets’ leader in points, rebounds and assists, missed Denver’s rout of the Phoenix Suns on Friday night when he was handed a one-game suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation in Utah earlier in the week.

Malone said he didn’t think Jokic would be any more fired up than usual for his return and instead would focus on helping „his team win another game at home against a quality team from the Eastern Conference.“

Jokic did just that, scoring 17 first-quarter points on his way to a 20-point, 12-rebound first-half as the Nuggets, who led wire to wire for the second straight night, took a 77-68 lead into the locker room.

„That’s the Joker we like to see, coming out physical and aggressive early,“ Torrey Craig said. „When he’s aggressive like that, we’re a great team.“

Through three quarters, Jokic had 28 points, 17 boards and nine assists, and he got the triple-double shortly after re-entering the game midway through the fourth quarter with a half-court pass to Malik Beasley, whose dunk put Denver ahead 118-104.

„He did what he does all the time,“ Gary Harris said. „He came out and was aggressive. We asserted ourselves early and got the job done.“

Jokic sat out the final few minutes, leaving him two boards shy of the rare 30-20-10 triple-double.

While his teammates are starting to expect triple-doubles out of him on a regular basis, Jokic isn’t focusing on them.

„I don’t think going into the game I need these points, rebounds. I just play hard and try to win,“ Jokic said. „If it happens, I like it, and it’s cool.“

32/18/10 – sedmi u sezoni-

ESPN