Nikola Jokic returned to the floor last night and put 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. He was tremendous, and the Denver Nuggets needed every bit of it to have a chance at the end.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get enough production from other places, notably Jamal Murray. The Nuggets starting point guard had 14 points on 4-of-16 from the field, and while he impacted the game in other ways, the scoring and playmaking just wasn’t enough to give the Nuggets their best chance to win.

Michael Porter Jr. started slow but got going as a shotmaker. Christian Braun kept Denver in it early. Russell Westbrook shot 4-of-6 from three last night and earned the opportunity to close. Peyton Watson made a big three to take the lead.

At this point, the Nuggets are waiting on Murray. If he can get going, this team is going to be pretty good. If not, there are a lot of questions.

On the latest episode of Pickaxe and Roll, Ryan Blackburn breaks down the Denver Nuggets 123-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the return of Nikola Jokic. It was a physical game, and Jokic handled it about as well as he could have. Unfortunately, Jamal Murray didn’t. He’s really struggling right now and in a self-proclaimed slump. Ryan breaks down what happened last night, why Russell Westbrook closed over Christian Braun, and what’s next for tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pickaxe and Roll is a Nuggets podcast streamed live on YouTube every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 10am MT. You can catch episodes live by subscribing to the Mile High Sports YouTube channel and turning on Bell Notifications.

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