was still weak enough Thursday as he continued to recover from the illness punishing his body that the Nuggets coaching staff wouldn’t let him practice, sending him home for more rest.
But with Denver in desperation mode, its back pushed against the wall in the Western Conference playoff race, the team needed its best player.
Jokic delivered and picked up plenty of help along the way Friday night as the Nuggets earned a wire-to-wire 119-99 victory over the , the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference, in front of a rowdy crowd of 17,147 at the .
Jokic returned from a two-game absence and narrowly missed a triple-double, tallying 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Call it Flu Game Light.
“I can still feel it in my chest, and my throat is a little sore when I start coughing,” said Jokic, who first began feeling sick six days ago. “But when I woke up (Friday) I felt a lot better than yesterday. It feels really good to be back.”
Denver began a four-game homestand last Saturday aiming to build their lead in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Instead, losses to Charlotte and Washington in which Denver looked lifeless at the start left the Nuggets entering Friday’s game staring at the possibility of their lead disappearing completely.
BOXSCORE:
The Nuggets (30-35) got a boost from two players returning from illness: Jokic and , who missed Wednesday’s loss to Washington because of vertigo. The two players combined for 17 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, and Denver led 35-25 after 12 minutes. Gallinari finished with 20 points.
Denver improved to 13-2 when it wins the first quarter at home.
“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive,” Jokic said. “With our energy, everyone was playing together.”
The Nuggets did the things at the start that have helped them produce the offense with the league’s best rating since the middle of the season. They were cutting, running and sharing the basketball, assisting on nine of their first 12 field goals. They turned nine turnovers into 11 points in the first half, when their lead grew to as many as 20 points with four minutes left in the second quarter.
continued his recent hot streak with a team-high 23 points.
The Nuggets for much of the game were playing the kind of two-way basketball that has proven difficult to sustain. They held the Celtics to 42.5 percent shooting and held Boston star Isaiah Thomas to a relatively modest 21 points.
Thomas, the league’s top fourth-quarter scorer, was held to two points in the final period.
“Gary Harris’ defense tonight was inspiring,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “He’s a guy who embraces the challenge to guard the best players in the NBA. Guarding Isaiah Thomas is not an easy challenge.”
During one sequence midway through the second quarter, blocked a shot by the hard-driving Thomas. As the ball headed out of bounds, Gallinari swooped in and saved the ball to rookie , who finished in traffic on the other end to put the Nuggets up 50-33.
Similar energy plays had been found in short supply recently.
“When you defend like that, especially with our fourth-quarter defense, that’s who I think we need to be,” Malone said.
At least for one night, Denver wore desperation well.
“We need every win,” Jokic said. “If we don’t win (Saturday at Sacramento), this is nothing.”
