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Well, the Aaron Gordon era has already been a huge success as not only did he show himself in his Nuggets debut, but the rest of the squad as well. Denver managed to pull off a 126-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks largely to what Gordon and the Nuggets’ starting unit were able to accomplish.
It all started in the first half as Gordon got off to a good start draining his first shot in a Nuggets uniform. A few possessions later, we got to see Nikola Jokic and Gordon hooking up on a sweet coin, which hopefully is a sign of things to come.
That’s how it makes you even more excited about killing that Nuggets offense with the addition of Gordon. Will Barton III was Denver’s leading scorer in the first half with 12 points, but Gordon was right behind him with 11 points on 5 of 7 shots from the field, 1 of 3 from beyond the arc.
Denver managed to take a 65-55 halftime lead due to their formidable second quarter. The Nuggets beat Atlanta 32-20 for second behind JaMychal Green’s 10 points in the period.
It was more or less the same to start the second half as the Nuggets’ first basket came on a Gordon dunk on a Jokic stream. A few possessions later, Gordon gave an incredible pass to Michael Porter Jr., who made a three-plus foul to make the Nuggets even bigger.
The Nuggets started the second half on a 10-2 run and never looked back as they headed for victory over Atlanta. Gordon was the star of the series finishing with 13 points on 6 of 9 shots from the field, 1 of 4 of 3 with two rebounds and one assist.
Jokic took over in the second half, finishing with a near triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 7 of 12 shots from the field. The other players who finished in double digits were Jamal Murray (17), Porter (15 points and 10 rebounds), Green (20) and Barton (12). A quick point on Green, he was brilliant tonight leading the team in scoring behind 3 three points and also shooting in five rebounds. Green isn’t losing his spot in the rotation anytime soon, and rightly so.
Denver’s record now sits at 28-18, which is good for fifth place in the Western Conference. The Nuggets will be back in action Tuesday night when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to town with a tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.
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