Denver’s Nikola Jokic enters Friday’s NBA Cup group-play opener at Phoenix fresh off his 200th career triple-double, while Suns star Devin Booker hopes to regain his usual consistency.
Jokic will look to build on his 200th career regular-season triple-double when the Nuggets conclude a short two-game road trip against the host Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Jokic had 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the Nuggets’ 104-91 victory over New Orleans on Wednesday, their second win over the Pelicans in five days. The three-time MVP trails only Russell Westbrook, who holds the NBA record with 209 career triple-doubles.
“I have a son and daughter at home,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said afterward. “Trying to explain what they are watching is pretty exceptional. And shout out to Russ.
“What these guys have done … it’s once-in-a-lifetime kind of stuff. That’s two seasons plus an All-Star break of triple-doubles. That is absolutely insane.”
Booker has experienced dramatically different results in his past two games. He scored 43 points Saturday in a 131-122 victory over Golden State, a franchise record for points in a home opener. He was 17 of 25 from the field.
Booker then scored just three points in Phoenix’s 125-114 road loss to Oklahoma City on Monday, matching his lowest output since his rookie season in 2015.
Booker was 1 of 7 from the field and had seven assists in 34 minutes, as he became the focal point of a blitzing Thunder defense that often sent multiple defenders toward him at the catch and also used a zone.
“I just have to find better ways to be more aggressive,” Booker said. “I think they did a pretty good job of keeping it out of my hands if I didn’t have the ball in my hands. If I had the ball, obviously showing a lot of bodies, a lot of people.”
Booker also took on more playmaking responsibilities as Phoenix continued experimenting with a backcourt rotation featuring Jalen Green, Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin.
“Obviously we want your best player to be in attack mode,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “Sometimes when (the opponent) is showing bodies, the best read is just to make the next one.
“Early in this season, and then (against) the zone, we went with him as the playmaker that initiates the offense a little bit of time. I think it’s a good lesson for us seeing some film on some defenses like that. We’ll take a look and fix it.”
The Suns rank 19th in offensive rating and last in defense rating, according to basketball-reference.com. They are 25th in points per game and 26th in opponents’ points.
The Suns rank 29th in rebounding margin while playing without center Mark Williams, who underwent shoulder surgery in September and is expected to miss an extended period. Khaman Maluach has started the first three with Oso Ighodaro (oblique) also out, and they used 6-foot-7 Miles Bridges in the post at times against the Thunder.
“We’ll keep searching,” Ott said. “We need to find that 48 minutes of great center play.”
Jokic is averaging 22.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 9.0 assists, while Jamal Murray is averaging 22.5 points and 5.8 assists for the Nuggets. DeMar DeRozan has provided a boost off the bench (13.0 points), and second-round pick Trevon Brazile has been a pleasant surprise.
Brazile had 11 points and eight rebounds Wednesday in his first start of the season. Forward Cam Johnson, who has missed three games with an ankle injury, is questionable for Friday.
“If you shoot it and you miss, and you are open the next play, shoot it again,” Adelman said. “We’re going to create open shots. That’s how we have to play. That allows 27 (Murray), 15 (Jokic) and 32 (Aaron Gordon) to play in space.”
