On December 24, Beijing time, the defending champion Nuggets played away against the Hornets, of which the Nuggets were the second game in a back-to-back. The Nuggets continued to be suppressed by the Hornets in the first half and once trailed by 10 points, but the Nuggets once played a 17-0 offensive in the third quarter, and won 30-9 in the third quarter by 21 points. The Hornets stubbornly fought back in the final quarter to chase only 3 points, Jokic made a key performance to establish the victory, but 6 fouls in the final moment, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Hornets 102-95 to win 4 in a row, and rose to second in the West with a 21-10 record, and the Hornets swallowed 7 consecutive losses. Jokic had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists, Murray scored 20 points and Porter Jr. scored 22 points, leading the Nuggets to a six-man double-double, and Bridges scored 22 points to lead the Hornets to a four-player double-double.
The defending champions are far better than the Hornets, who have been slumped this season, and the Hornets are missing the core three goals, as well as Rozier, Ntilikina, Williams, and the Nuggets are all missing Konzal. The Nuggets were suppressed by the Hornets in the first two quarters, and trailed by 10 points at the most, they trailed by two points at 25-27 in the first quarter, lost by four more points at 29-33 in the second quarter, and trailed the Hornets by six points at 54-60 at the end of the first half.
Jokic scored just 2 points on 1-of-2 shooting in the first quarter, while Bridges scored 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first quarter. Jokic picked up in the second quarter, but at the end of the first half, Jokic had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 4-of-7 for a quasi-triple-double, and still did not score a double-double, Porter Jr. scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from the outside and Murray scored 9 points. The Hornets had three players score in double figures in the first two quarters, Bridges with 14 points, Washington with 16 points and Richards with 10 points.
The Nuggets blossomed inside and out in the first half of the third quarter, and Jokic and Porter Jr. teamed up to play a 17-0 offensive run to overtake the score in one fell swoop. The Hornets continued to play iron, and once could only rely on free throws to chase down points, and the Nuggets continued to suppress their opponents, and in the third quarter of the game, the Nuggets played a 30-9 offensive score of 21 points in a single quarter, and the first three quarters have been 84-69 ahead of the Hornets by 15 points. In the first three quarters, the Nuggets scored four double-doubles, Jorkie had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, Porter Jr. had 21 points and Murray had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Gordon had 12 points, and the Hornets had three double-doubles, Bridges had 19 points, Washington had 18 points and Richards had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
In the final quarter of the game, the Hornets fought back to chase points, and Nuggets coach Malone replaced the main force again. After Jokic re-entered the game, the Hornets continued to suppress the Nuggets to fight back and chase points, and the Nuggets were once chased to a four-point lead at 95-91. Jokic scored on a mid-range shot, Smith hit another three-pointer to continue the three-point deficit, and Jokic made a layup to consolidate the advantage. Jokic then continued to make foul free throws to extend the advantage, and the Hornets were unable to turn the game around, and finally the Nuggets narrowly beat the Hornets to win four in a row.
Wen drunk, lying down, floating).