NBA: Jokic, Nuggets end LeBron-less Lakers' win streak
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie drives to the net against Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic in the first quarter.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LOS ANGELES – There was only one thing on Nikola Jokic’s mind on Monday night – to be perfect in his shooting and to assist his teammates as much as possible.
The Denver Nuggets centre did just that, making all five of his shot attempts for 14 points with a season-high 16 assists to go with 11 rebounds as he claimed his 11th triple-double of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season.
His heroics led the Nuggets to beat the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers 122-109 at Denver’s Ball Arena, while Jamal Murray had a season-high 34 points.
“A truly selfless superstar,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of Jokic on ESPN. “I know a lot of players that, if they took five shots in 35 minutes, would be (mad) right now. But Nikola doesn’t care whether he takes five or 25.”
Lakers coach Darvin Ham was equally impressed with Jokic, whose tally on Monday marked just the 12th triple-double in NBA history with five or fewer shots.
“The way (Jokic) puts his fingerprints all over the game, that’s a rarity, especially at his size,” he said.
“It’s only a few of those guys in the league that’s able to do that.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points, Bruce Brown scored 15 points, Bones Hyland and Michael Porter Jr added 12 apiece, and Aaron Gordon finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Denver, who have won 11 straight home games.
The Western Conference-leading Nuggets improved to 27-13 overall while the Lakers dropped to 19-22.
Russell Westbrook scored 25 points while Thomas Bryant had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, who saw their five-game winning streak end.
James is only 35 points shy of joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only NBA players to score 38,000 career points.
He was named the Western Conference player of the week after averaging 35 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists in three games.
The superstar forward sat out the game with a sore left ankle.
The Lakers also lost guard Patrick Beverley for the second half with a right hip injury.
The Memphis Grizzlies remained neck and neck with the Nuggets atop the West after downing the San Antonio Spurs 121-113.
Memphis were without top scorer Ja Morant for a second straight game because of a sore right thigh.
But with 24 points from stand-in Tyus Jones and 16 from Jaren Jackson, they snuffed out a late Spurs charge.
Tre Jones (right) led San Antonio with 18 points.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In the Eastern Conference, Jayson Tatum scored 32 points to help leaders Boston Celtics hold off the determined Chicago Bulls and reach the midway point of the season with the best record in the league.
Grant Williams added 20 points, Jaylen Brown scored 19 and Al Horford’s eight included a crucial three-pointer with 25.5sec left in Boston’s 107-99 home victory.
The Celtics pushed their record to 29-12 after their first 41 games of the 82-game campaign.
REUTERS, AFP
