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It only took a few minutes for Nikola Jokic to find Aaron Gordon for his first dunk as the Denver Nugget.
In his Denver debut, Gordon had 6 of 9 shots and scored 13 points to help the Nuggets crush the Atlanta Hawks 126-102 at Ball Arena.
After Denver led the Hawks by as much as 33 in a dominant team effort inside the paint, Gordon saw limitless potential for the Nuggets.
“I don’t see any limits for this team,” said Gordon. “Looks like we’ve got all the pieces we need. We’ve got the depth. It’s like we’ve got covered in a lot of different places offensively, defensively.
“As long as we are all working together, nothing will stop us.”
With a new starting lineup with Gordon alongside Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Will Barton, the Nuggets (28-18) dominated Atlanta on the inside, edging the Hawks 50-32 in paint and the exceeding 49-31.
With Jokic, Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon on the ground, the Nuggets scored 55 points and were an over-17 in 20 minutes, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Gordon took a pass from Jokic and looped a Jokic screen for a 17-foot jumper for his first basket as a Nugget with 9:25 left in the first quarter.
“It didn’t look like this was his first day playing with us,” said JaMychal Green, who scored 20 points off the bench.
Less than a minute later, Jokic hit a cutting Gordon in the paint for a twisted two-handed dunk. Three of Jokic’s eight assists were to Gordon, who dived twice on Jokic’s assists.
The Nuggets, looking to climb the Western Conference standings and advance to the Western final, traded Gary Harris and RJ Hampton in Orlando for Gordon while acquiring non-playing JaVale McGee from Cleveland. .
The Nuggets got a glimpse of Gordon’s versatility as the forward activated the defense and stayed ahead of Atlanta’s Trae Young on one possession.
“The main thing and the best thing he did was take the role,” Jokic said. “He knows why he came here, he knows what he can do and he knows how he can help and he does it. Defense or attack, it doesn’t matter, he accepts it and kisses it.
“I think he kind of saw how we played and he didn’t try to do too much. He saw that if it’s open the ball is going to find it. Really good start for him. . “
And Gordon can see plenty of other dunks playing alongside one of the game’s top passers-by at Jokic.
“I’m starting to see the exits,” said Gordon, who played 20 minutes. “His point-of-sale overshoot is incredible. I haven’t seen a store passer this good… So I can’t wait to get lots of points.”
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