On December 29, 2023, Beijing time, in today's NBA game, the 22-10 Nuggets hosted the 10-19 Grizzlies, Nuggets big man Gordon was absent due to a dog bite, starters: Murray + Pope + Porter + Watson + Jokic, Grizzlies Morant was absent, starters: Bane + Smart + Williams + 3J + Biyombo.
In the first quarter of the game, Jokic tossed, Bane and 3J scored 8 points in a row, Grizzlies 8-2, Watson, Porter scored, Bane and Williams responded, Grizzlies led 15-7, Pope, Porter, Murray played 8-0 to tie the point difference, Grizzlies paused, after the timeout came back, Jokic and Murray scored, Roddy, Biyombo responded, Grizzlies led by 1 point, Jokic scored 4 points in a row, Braun made 2 free throws and 1 hit, Nuggets overtook 4 points, Williams, 3J, Smart scored, Jokic, Reggie, Holiday responded, the Nuggets led by three points, Smart missed a three-pointer, and Jokic pressed the buzzer with a three-pointer to give the Nuggets a 33-27 lead in the first quarter. Jokic finished with 13 points and four rebounds on 6-of-6 shooting in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Holiday , Strauser, Braun played 8-0, the Nuggets led by 15 points, Smart, 3J scored in a row, the difference chased to 5 points to stop the Nuggets, after the timeout came back, Watson three points, 3J, Konchar responded, the difference was 4 points, Murray, Pope expanded the difference to 11 points, Williams scored, Pope, Watson, Porter, Murray hit three points in a row, the difference came to 20 points, Bane, Williams scored, Jokic made a layup, and the Nuggets led 65-48 at halftime. Jokic finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 7-of-7 shooting in the half, and Murray had 13 points and seven assists.
In the third quarter of the game, Murray, Watson, and Pope expanded the difference to 24 points, Smart scored, Jokic, Pope, and Watson responded, and the difference came to 29 points, Bane, Roddy scored, Murray, and Jokic responded, with a difference of 32 points, Konchar, Bane, and Tillman scored, Holiday and Murray and Jokic responded, and the difference was still 32 points, Bane, Smart, and Roddy chased the difference to 23 points, Jokic and Braun scored, Tillman and 3J chased the points, and the Nuggets led 106-83 in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Jordan Jr. and Reggie scored, Gilyard and Roddy chased the points, with a difference of 22 points, and Watson, Strausser, Braun, and Reggie expanded the difference to 35 points, with 6 minutes left in the game, the suspense was lost, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Grizzlies 142-105.
Jokic clocked in 30 minutes, 11-of-11 (1-of-1 three-pointer), 3-of-3 free throws, and scored 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists on 100% shooting, with a plus/minus of +25, he became the first player in NBA history in 77 years to score a 20+ triple-double and shoot 100% from the field and free throws, Murray scored 23 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists on 9-of-12 shooting, Watson had 20 points and 5 boards, Pope had 12 points and 2 boards, and Strauser had 12 points and 3 boards.
Bane had 23 points, one board and two assists on 9-of-13 shooting, Smart had 17 points, three boards and five assists, 3J had 14 points and four boards, Roddy had 15 points and two assists, and Konchar had 10 points, five boards and three assists.
After the Nuggets win, they went 23-10 and overtook the Thunder to become second in the West, and the Thunder became third in the West.