Basketball is finally back, after this year’s All-Star Weekend and last year’s NBA champions the Denver Nuggets are already starting off hot with 2 wins in their back-to-back stretch. In the first game of the back-to-back 2x MVP Nikola Jokic shot 100% from the line and became only the second player in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles where they shot 100% from the field. The first to do it was Wilt Chamberlain. In this game, Nikola Jokic also had 21 points,19 rebounds, and 15 assists. However, this was not just another Triple Double for The Joker with this triple-double Nikola Jokic has achieved a triple-double against every opponent in the NBA and joins an elite club of being only the third player in modern NBA history to do so. However, Jokic was not done yet as the second game of the back-to-back was against Portland. In this game Jokic had 29 points,15 rebounds, and 14 assists, getting back-to-back triple-doubles. With these stats, it is impossible not to establish that Nikola Jokic is one of the top 5 people in his position in the game. Also with the injury of Joel Embid, last year’s MVP winner, and Jokic in the best form of his life it is hard to dispute that Jokic is one of the favorites this year to get his 3rd MVP and possibly make Denver back-to-back champions. However, the question is can the rest of the Team keep up with Jokic’s efforts?

The Answer to that question is yes because one person who has been cooking since the break is Michael Porter Jr. MPJ had 22 points and 11 rebounds against the Wizards and 34 points and 12 rebounds against the Trailblazers. The 34 points against The Trailblazers were huge as that game Jamal Murray was out with Bilateral Tibia Inflammation. So Porter heating up and keeping up with Jokic’s efforts, helped the team get the result and now move forward with confidence as they hopefully get stronger in the upcoming games. However, with all good must come bad and the bad is their road record as despite Jokic’s incredible performances the Denver Nuggets still only sit at 4th in the Western Conference with a 38-19 record. They are 16-14 on the road. So the question is how can the Nuggets stay on form when they are away from home for me I think it all has to do with the momentum they got from the break as I think it did them good and gave the boys a surge to restart on a good stride. These 2 back to back games were the difference in points. In the game at home against the Wizards they won by 20 and the game away against The Trailblazers was by 15. These wins show that the Nuggets are improving with the margin of victory and points they put against the other teams. Even though both teams are below 500 and considered the worst in the NBA, this is irrelevant it shows they are still trying to fix their efforts on the road and hopefully they can use these 2 games against bad competition as momentum to motivate them in the tough upcoming schedule.

The next 6 games are tough as they play the Warriors on the road who have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, etc, and are 2-0 after the break, and 8-2 in their last 10 games. They then play the Sacramento Kings who have Domantas Sabonis, the player who is leading the league in triple-doubles. Also not to remind Nuggets Nation but the Kings beat the Nuggets by 4 before the break. However, this game against the Kings is at home so the Nuggets are favored. Then they play the Heat at home and despite the Heat’s record, they are 7-3 in their last 10. Then they have games against the Lakers, and Suns, both teams with superstars like Lebron James and Devin Booker, and despite both teams’ records being worse than The Nuggets they can still surprise them with pop-off statement games as both teams are teams who have vengeance against the Nuggets for losing in last years playoffs. The last game of the 6 is by far the hardest as they play one of the best teams in the NBA, The Boston Celtics, who are 44-12 and have an even better record than the Nuggets at home. The Celtics are loaded with All-Star talents and are one of the teams that our favorited to make it out of the east on top. With Jaylen Brown, Joson Tatum, and Kristaps Porizingis all in their best form, this game is one of the ones on the calendar that will show if the Nuggets are ready to start dealing with contenders. However, the game is at home for the Nuggets so everyone will need to come out and give their best effort if they want to still become the home seed in the playoffs and be victorious in this tough Western Conference division.