For the second consecutive night Nuggets forward Nikola Jokic recorded a triple-double. And for the second consecutive night Denver picked up a critical road win, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 110-98. The win gives Denver a three-game cushion over three chasing clubs for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Jokic filled up the stat sheet again on Wednesday, scoring 13 points, pulling down 14 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. It was his fourth tripe-double on the season, tying him with Golden State’s Draymond Green for fourth-most in the NBA this year. It was also his 26th double-double of the year, which is 15th in the league. Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets in scoring for the second night in a row with a game-high 22 points.
Denver shot only 30.3 percent from 3-point range in the game, but out-rebounded the Bucks 45-34. The Nuggets held Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averaged 23.3 points per game in February to just 15. Denver was up big at the half, holding the Bucks to 30 percent shooting. Milwaukee would claw back to make it interesting, but never really close.
The highlight play of the night, although it resulted in a missed 3-pointer by Jamal Murray, came when Jokic executed a lengthy bounce pass right between Antetokounmpo’s legs to find Murray in the corner for an open look.
JOKIC with the nutmeg!pic.twitter.com/qXIuGmtGLo
— SB Nation NBA (Click the pic to read 🔽) (@SBNationNBA) March 2, 2017
Denver returns home now for a four-game stint at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets host Charlotte and Sacramento on Saturday and Monday before welcoming Washington and Boston to close out next week.