Paul George wasn’t able to get going.
The young Denver Nuggets(15-23) had possibly their best game of the season last night dismantling the Indiana Pacers(20-19) by 28 points in the O2 Arena in London, in the NBA’s Global Game series unphased by the jet lag.
“I joked with our guys after the game, `I think we’re going to stay here in London and play our home games here,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. “Our guys were very comfortable out there and we had one of our best performances.”
Italian forward Danilo Gallinari scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting and was matched up with Pacers star Paul George most of the game, limiting him to just 10 points on 2-12 shooting in what Malone stated was his best game of the season.
“Just to come back to Europe and play in front of these fans, it was great,” said Gallinari, who wore knee-high socks adorned with the Union Jack and London skyline. “Hopefully, the fans had a good show.”
Wilson Chandler finished with 21 points and Nikola Jokic had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets as they snapped their own 5-game losing streak and in the process snapping Indiana’s 5-game winning streak.Outscoring the Pacers 39-20 in the 3rd quarter shooting an impressive 73.7% in that quarter with an overall 57.1% in the game.The Nuggets only trailed once in the 2nd and then never looked back.
“We didn’t show up tonight. I don’t have a reason for that,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. “Denver, they came, showed up and played well, and I didn’t think that we showed up tonight.”
Jeff Teague scored 14 points with 9 assists and C.J Miles added 20 points off the bench.
Indiana hosts Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on MLK day on Monday while the Nuggets host the Orlando Magic on MLK as well.
