Nets dominated by Nikola Jokic and Nuggets, losing at mile-high altitude in second game of back-to-back

DENVER — Nic Claxton had his hands on his knees waiting for the Nuggets to shoot free throws in the third quarter. Mikal Bridges and other Nets nearby had their hands on their hips walking slowly.

You couldn’t blame the Nets trying to catch their breath. Ball Arena is where altitude is as formidable as defending Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the post.

The Nets’ 124-101 loss Thursday night was a product of scheduling as much as the defending champion Nuggets flexing their will. The game was the second night of a back-to-back for the Nets and the thin air in Denver took its toll just like Jokic did with his NBA-leading 10th triple double.

“Tired group. Yeah, tough back-to-back,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. “You know I don't like to use excuses, but I told our group I thought our intent was good coming into the game. We just didn't have it tonight."

The Nets, who trailed the entire game, had their third-fewest point total this season along with 17 turnovers, one shy of their season high. The Nuggets (17-9) led by 23 after three quarters and held the Nets to a season-low with eight made threes. 

Things looked bleak from the start when the Nets (13-11) had just 22 first-quarter points. They followed that up with 17 in a second quarter where at one point, they missed 11 consecutive shots.

“We had great looks. Sometimes it's just not our night, we weren’t making them,” said Cam Thomas, who had 13 points, “We had great open threes. We just weren’t making them. Credit to the Nuggets, they made adjustments with our ball screens, they were higher up, not letting us get downhill as much, get to the free throw line.”

Jokic finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Jamal Murray, who sat out the Nuggets’ previous game with an ankle injury, had 16 points.

Tired legs forced Vaughn to empty his bench earlier than normal as he tried to conserve minutes. Armoni Brooks and Harry Giles III checked in during the third quarter as opposed to usually playing in the fourth during blowouts.

Vaughn played his reserves the entire fourth quarter. The Nuggets led by as many as 28 points as they won their third consecutive game.

The Nets fell to 1-2 on this five-game road trip. Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 17 points but his fellow starters struggled.

Mikal Bridges had a season-low nine points and was just 3-for-8 from the field. Thomas was 5-for-13 and Cam Johnson 4-for-10 with 10 points.

“That's a tough back-to-back,” Thomas said. “Playing in Phoenix, emotional game for the guys, we all wanted to win for [Bridges and Johnson], and then to come right back here in the altitude against the champs, it’s a tough back-to-back.”

Nic Claxton had 10 points and nine rebounds. Day’Ron Sharpe had eight points and 13 rebounds off the bench and Giles had 11 points, his first game in double digits since April 3, 2021 with the Trail Blazers.

It barely mattered as the damage was done by the first half and really, by the time, they exited the plane early Thursday morning.

“I mean, if you look at the schedule, obviously this would probably be a scheduling loss, right?” Dinwiddie said. “So for all intents and purposes we’re kind of 1-1 on the trip right now and we go into Golden State and Utah and try to get two wins.”

The Nets face Golden State Saturday but won’t have guard Dennis Smith Jr. available. Vaughn said before the game that Smith will remain out the rest of the trip as he deals with an upper back sprain.

It wouldn’t have mattered as Denver’s play plus the altitude had the Nets playing from behind and too tired to keep up.

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.