Surprising match lived in Denver, not because Cleveland won – which could also be – but because he did it with an authority that few could predict before the initial jump.
The 87-99 with which the match ended tells us about a tough and close game, one in which Ricky Rubio faced Facundo Campazzo, one in which Jarrett Allen dazzled with 21 points and 16 rebounds and in which Kevin Love he was great off the bench with 22 points in 21 minutes. The Cavaliers are operating from a strength and security few predicted a few weeks ago.
“Everyone has shown a mutual commitment at all times. We have not taken a step back at any time, “says Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff, genuinely pleased with the intensity of his team.
The truth is that the defense of the Ohio organization worked perfectly. Beyond receiving 24 points and 19 rebounds from Nikola Jokic – it’s normal – they managed to leave the Nuggets at 9 of 38 on triples while forcing them to lose up to 22 balls. With this dynamic, they broke the clash at the start of the last quarter with a 14-3 run that put them up to 16 points up (73-89). There it all ended. The locals could not get up.
“I don’t know what we have to be better at, but we have to be better at something because you’re going to lose a lot of games if you continue to play in this way. You only see bad things when you have this kind of match. They didn’t score us so many points… We had a lot of turnovers, ”says Jokic.
Beyond the Serbian, only three other players were in double-digit scoring: Aaron Gordon, Will Barton and Michael Porter Jr. The latter, after renewing for maximum salary in the summer, is not having a good start to the season. Last night he was 11 points with a 4 of 14 in field goals (3 of 9 in triples).
(Photo by Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
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