Well, the Aaron Gordon era has already been a massive success as not only did he show out in his Nuggets debut, but so did the rest of the team. Denver was able to pick up a 126-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in large part 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 hot start draining his first shot in a Nuggets uniform. Just a few possessions later we got to see Nikola Jokic and Gordon connect on a sweet play, which is hopefully a sign of things to come.
It’s plays like that which makes you even more excited about how lethal this Nuggets offense can be with the addition of Gordon. Will Barton III ended up as Denver’s leading scorer in the first half with 12 points, but Gordon was right behind him with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Denver was able to build a 65-55 halftime lead because of their tremendous second quarter. The Nuggets outscored Atlanta 32-20 in the second behind JaMychal Green’s 10 points in the period.
It was more of the same to start the second half as the Nuggets first basket came on a Gordon dunk off a Jokic feed. Just a few possessions later Gordon made an incredible pass to Michael Porter Jr., who made a three plus the foul to grow the Nuggets lead even more.
The Nuggets began the second half on a 10-2 run and never looked back as they cruised to victory over Atlanta. Gordon was the star of the show finishing with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, 1-of-4 from three to go along 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 shooting from the field. Other players who finished in double-figures were Jamal Murray (17), Porter (15 points and 10 rebounds), Green (20) and Barton (12). One quick point on Green, he was awesome tonight leading the team in scoring behind 3 three-pointers and also hauled in five rebounds. Green is not losing his spot in the rotation anytime soon and deservedly 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 on Tuesday night when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to town with tip-off set for 7pm MST.
