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The Nuggets are full of joy at the threshold of the Christmas holiday, having defeated Jusuf Nurkić and the hated Portland Trail Blazers on Friday and Andre Iguodala and the hated Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
Both wins were dominating performances for the young Nuggets, especially considering the circumstances. The Nuggets have struggled against the Trail Blazers, with the crushing defeat last season that effectively eliminated them from the playoffs. Nurkić took great pleasure in beating the Nuggets, after forcing his way off the team after he lost his starting spot to a far superior player in Nikola Jokić. When Jokić dunked on Nurkić, the souls of Nuggets fans everywhere ascended to a higher plane, full of light and love and joy.
Let’s check out some of the jokes we had at the Trail Blazers expense!
Everyone remember to tell @bosnianbeast27 to have a nice Christmas season
— Dan ❄️⛄️ (@minutemandan) December 23, 2017
#Nuggets coach Michael Malone on Nikola Jokic -- gasp! -- dunking: "You should stop the game when that happens. If it’s a home game, everybody should get a free hot dog."
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) December 23, 2017
Nikola Jokic's also got jokes. On the #Nuggets' first win in Portland since February of 2013: "I was back home (in Serbia) driving horses, so I don’t remember that very well. But I’m really glad we ended that losing streak."
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) December 23, 2017
Portland fans waking up on Christmas like pic.twitter.com/DjgcQMDMkS
— Denver Stiffs (@denverstiffs) December 23, 2017
Enough of the jokes, here’s the recap highlights of the game. Be sure to stay until the end, where the Nuggets walk off the court as victors.
The Nuggets left Portland and traveled south to face the Golden State Warriors and former Nuggets guard Andre Iguodala. It was a game that nearly everyone was predicting the Nuggets would lose, even with no Steph Curry, Zaza Pachulia, and Shaun Livingston for the opposing team.
"We have nothing to lose,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said to reporters before the game. “No one’s giving us a chance to even be competitive tonight against this very talented team. Let’s go out, compete, have some fun and make it interesting and try to steal one at the end."
Well, they certainly stole one. The Nuggets held The Mole to 2 points on 1-6 shooting, and held The Snake to 18 points on 6-17 shooting. Jokić and Harris combined for 37 points, Wilson Chandler had 15 and 9, and Jamal Murray had a quiet 14/6/5 night to lead the team to a road sweep against two Western Conference foes.
This will certainly be one of the high points of the roller coaster season this team has embarked on, and should be enjoyed by Nuggets fans near and far. Merry Christmas, everyone!