Earlier tonight, Crvena Zvezda fans held up a “Marko Simonovic #NBAVote” banner over in Belgrade during their EuroLeague encounter with Fenerbahce to highlight his incredible start to the season.
Roughly 1,700km away in London, Simonovic’s Rio 2016 team-mate Nikola Jokic was making his own last case for NBA All-Star voting as he guided the Denver Nuggets to a convincing 140-112 win over the Indiana Pacers at the O2 Arena, Thursday night.
Jokic enjoyed a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds along with seven assists, showcasing his all-round talent that the Nuggets have nurtured since his arrival in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Live from Hala Pionir, Belgrade 🙂 pic.twitter.com/du9RdsleWF
— Yugobasket (@yugobasket) January 12, 2017
“He a special young player,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
“We are thrilled that he is a big part of our future. He goes out there and gets 22 [points], ten rebounds and seven assists and in my opinion he had a lot more than seven assists, I got to go back and watch the film. I think he had a triple-double.
“But he is so unselfish, high IQ player and everyone of his team-mates enjoys plying with him because he is so unselfish and he is willing and capable of making the right play almost every time.”
The overall total of 140 points was a team-high for the Nuggets this season, surpassing 132 as they snap a five-game slide. The Pacers, on the flip side, drop their first game in five.
Wilson Chandler added 21 points for the Nuggets with CJ Miles leading the way for Indiana with 20.
“I think it was more what we did offensively, we came down and played a lot of 1-on-1, a lot of contested shots, quick shots, we didn’t get ball movement and that led to transition baskets for them,” Pacers coach Nate McMillian said.
“When you’re taking quick shots, contested shots those rebounds turn into fast break points. i think they had 15 fast break points by the half.”
The Nuggets felt more at “home” at the O2 as they led for the majority of the first half with Danilo Gallinari hitting his first three triples, en route to 11 points in the first period.
Indiana would gain an advantage in the first plays of the second quarter as a score by Frenchman Kevin Seraphin handed the Eastern Conference side a 31-30 lead but it was only brief as the Nuggets turned the tide back their way, highlighted by an alley-oop from Jokic to a rising Kenneth Faried giving the London crowd something to cheer about.
Denver would remain in pole position throughout the second quarter with Jokic at the helm as the Serb dished two more assists to guide his side to its double digit lead at 58-47 with 2:50 left in the second.
The superstar of the night, Paul George, who had struggled, hitting only one of his first seven shots, nailing a three with time winding down looked to have given the Pacers some much needed momentum heading back to the locker rooms.
However, Jokic had other ideas as his quarterback-like inbound ended in the hands of Gary Harris who laid it in, unopposed to hand Denver a 67-56 cushion at the half.
As for George, that was to be his last field goal of the night, ending the night a mere 2/12 for 10 points.
Any hope that the Pacers would make a game of it in the third quarter were quickly dismissed by an 11-0 burst by the Nuggets mid-way through the period that expanded their lead to 95-65.
Fans were again treated to yet another alley-oop throwdown by Faried in the final quarter. But by then the result was never in doubt.
