Nikola Jokic’s masterful second half continued, with a trademark high-arching jumper slicing Cleveland’s lead to two points with 2:42 to play.
And then LeBron James did what LeBron James does. One of the NBA’s all-time greats immediately drove hard to the basket, drawing a foul and finishing through contact. Then he answered a Jokic hook by burying a ridiculous 29-foot 3-pointer. And then he hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers, including one that dropped through the net despite suffocating defense by Wilson Chandler that left James in the first row of the stands.
James scored the Cavaliers’ final nine points and finished with a game-high 39 to go along with 10 assists and eight rebounds to hold off a Nuggets’ rally and win a 113-108 thriller Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center. His latest exceptional performance spearheaded a contest that avenged Cleveland’s home loss to Denver less than a week ago and knocked the Nuggets out of the playoff picture.
“That’s why he’s the best in the league right now,” Jokic said. “He’s making the tough shots.”
BOX SCORE: Cavaliers 113, Nuggets 108
Denver’s second consecutive defeat since Saturday’s big win in Cleveland dropped the Nuggets (35-30) from eighth to ninth in the Western Conference standings, percentage points behind the Clippers and just ahead of the 10th-place Jazz because of its edge in the division-record tiebreaker. The Nuggets play six of their next seven games against teams currently out of the top 8 spots in either conference, before closing the regular season with 10 consecutive games against opponents that would be in the postseason if it began Thursday.
One night after a fourth-quarter benching in Dallas prompted a conversation between Jokic and coach Michael Malone about upping the standout big man’s aggressiveness, Jokic racked up 25 of his 36 points in the second half. He was a wildly efficient 12-of-14 from the field, constantly finishing deep in the post and complementing with timely jumpers. He added 13 rebounds and six assists to notch his 27th double-double of the season.
“That’s the Nikola that we need,” Malone said. “Obviously, we called his number quite a bit, and he delivered for us and he made big, big plays.”
Added Jokic: “That’s how the game opened up for me … we all would rather have a win than my (36) points.”
Jokic’s effort anchored the Nuggets’ second-half surge in which they outscored Cleveland 50-43 to pull out of a 13-point deficit. Denver finished the third quarter on an 11-0 run, capped by a Jokic corner 3-pointer to get within 89-87 heading to the final frame. A crafty finish by Will Barton tied the game at 91 with 9:40 to play, before back-to-back finishes by Mason Plumlee gave Denver its first lead of the night. Consecutive 3-pointers by Kyle Korver, Jeff Green and George Hill put the Cavaliers back in front for good at 102-96 with 5:03 to play, though Denver kept chipping away to make it a one possession game.
But James kept answering with dagger after dagger, living up to his status as the player with the most “clutch” points in the NBA this season. Each bucket sent the Pepsi Center crowd into a combination of cheers, groans and oohs and ahhs. And the latest exceptional performance from one of the NBA’s all-time greats knocked Denver out of the playoff picture with 17 games to go.
“We had them where we wanted them,” said Nuggets guard Gary Harris, who finished with 18 points. “They made plays down the stretch.”
