The Spurs played a valiant game tonight without their best player, but they could not hold on in the fourth under an onslaught of points from Jamal Murray, who scored 39, and Nikola Jokic who scored 31 with 12 assists and 20 rebounds. Stephon Castle had 30, De’Aaron Fox scored 27, and Harrison Barnes had a solid 20 point game in his first game back after an extended absence. The Spurs led by as much as 20 in the first half, but without Wembanyama to anchor the defense, the dynamic duo of Jokic and Murray took over the game in the second half and the Spurs just couldn’t hold them back long enough to eke out a win. It was an important win for Denver, as they are in a close race with all of the teams between third and seventh in the Western Conference within a couple of games. The Spurs still have a solid cushion over the team in third, and will have two more shots this year to face the Nuggets in the remaining 16 games of the season. It was a great win for Denver, and the Spurs will just have to move on to the next game against the Hornets on Saturday.
The home stand finishes on Saturday afternoon with a game against the Charlotte Hornets, who have been really good since the start of the year. The Spurs will have to put up a good effort in that game, or they could get stung. The Silver and Black sometimes shows up out of sorts for these games with an early start, and the the Hornets could make them pay if they don’t wake up on time. It might be time to fire up Boris Diaw’s expresso machine in the locker room once again.