Nuggets and Spurs faced off in a duel between two disparate teams, but that have two of the best players in the NBA. Jokic and Wembanyama met in a game that the Nuggets won 110-105. The Serbian had 42 points and 16 rebounds, while the Frenchman was two assists and one block shy of a quadruple-double, a milestone not seen in the league since 1994.
Wemby had 23 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and nine blocks in his team’s loss to the defending champions. He came very close to achieving the quadruple-double, something unusual in the NBA, since only Nate Thurmon, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson have achieved it. Furthermore, no one has achieved this in thirty years.
Despite the Frenchman’s great statistics, his game in front of the basket was very discreet. Wembanyama missed 20 of the 29 field goals he attempted, including 2 of 11 on three-pointers. Even so, the Spurs were close to winning, despite the qualifying difference between both franchises.
The usual one, Nikola Jokic, appeared again in the champions. The two-time league MVP, and favorite to win the award this year, scored 42 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Likewise, the Serbian was accompanied by Michael Porter Jr., who grabbed the same rebounds as the Joker and scored 15 points.
Although San Antonio are bottom of the Western Conference and had the losses of Jeremy Sochan, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell, Gregg Popovich’s team was in the game until the end, as they were tied at 105 with little more to go of 30 seconds. At the decisive moment Porter and Jokic appeared, and also Wemby’s mistake. The Nuggets forward scored his triple to put the Colorado team up three. However, the Frenchman missed his and also committed a foul on Jokic, who scored his two free throws to make it 110-105.
The victory of the Nuggets, added to the defeat of the Thunder against the Sixers, in which Embiid has returned, places Mike Malone’s franchise in first place. For their part, the San Antonio Spurs remain in last place in the West, despite Wembanyama. The Frenchman, barring a major surprise, will win the rookie of the year, even though his team is the red lantern. Furthermore, the 20-year-old player will try, in the remaining six games of the season, to enter the select list of players who have achieved the quadruple-double, because if there is a player capable of achieving it in the current NBA, it is him.
