Nikola Jokic Has Simple Answer After Nuggets' Win Over Suns

Center Nikola Jokic did not have to be the leading scorer for the Denver Nuggets to beat the Phoenix Suns 127-120 on Friday, and that was fine with him.

Jokic finished with 18 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes, while point guard Jamal Murray and shooting guard Christian Braun did most of the damage from deep.

Denver made 20 of its 37 three-point attempts in the NBA Cup group game, and Braun and Murray each made seven of them.

Braun scored a career-high 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting, with 22 of those coming in the first half, and Murray added 39 points and eight rebounds.

According to the team's game recap, it was the first time two Nuggets players made seven threes in the same game.

The Nuggets led 71-67 at halftime and 103-93 after three quarters, and Phoenix never got within one possession down the stretch.

Denver won back-to-back games for the first time this season, two days after Jokic picked up his 200th career triple-double in New Orleans.

Jokic, as usual, kept his own answer short.

"I just play," Jokic told Altitude TV after the game.

That answer fits the way he plays, and it is the same approach that has made him the best player in the building most nights for years.

Jokic shot 8-for-13 and still took a back seat when Braun got hot, and his 10 assists were a big part of why so many Denver shooters had open looks.

The one thing I would point to is the five turnovers, which matched Murray's total and is the part I would want cleaned up.

The return of power forward Cameron Johnson helped too.

Johnson had missed time with an ankle sprain before the team upgraded him on the injury report, and he gave Denver 12 points and nine rebounds in his first game back, which takes some of the pressure off Jokic on the glass.

Power forward Aaron Gordon chipped in 15 points and five assists, a couple of days after he spoke about the defense and trusting the young players, so the starting group finally looked close to whole.

The Nuggets are now 3-2 and 1-0 in their NBA Cup group, and they head home to face Portland on Monday and Toronto on Wednesday before playing Indiana in Mexico City on Nov. 7.

Five games is a small sample, but I like where this team is heading.

The early losses to Oklahoma City and Golden State raised some questions about the defense, but nights like this show how hard Denver is to guard when the shooters around Jokic are hitting.

If Braun can make even half this many threes on a regular basis, the Nuggets have a third scoring option that makes Jokic and Murray even harder to stop, and Jokic will keep finding him every time.

Denver still has defensive work to do, but the offense is starting to click, and that makes the next few home games a good chance to keep building.