The Washington Wizards defeated the Denver Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday, and they did a fantastic job. Nikola Jokic’s career-high scoring total was spoiled as the club won for the first time since Oct. 30. With their recent win, they’ve snapped their 16-game losing streak.
Jordan Poole was the Eastern Conference team’s main offensive contributor. He had 39 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 45% shooting from beyond the arc. Poole had 20 attempts from beyond the arc and made the defense pay for their defensive lapses.
The Wizards guard achieved a feat after the game as he’s the first player to have 39 points, eight assists and nine 3-pointers made.
Unlike Jokic, Poole had help from other players on the team. Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on 53.3% shooting from the field. Defensively, Valanciunas had five blocks as he displayed a tough presence inside the paint.
Justin Champagnie had 23 points and eight rebounds in his first start of the 2024-25 NBA season. On the defensive end, he had a couple of blocks and steals.
Washington took control of the game from the first quarter and never looked back, leading as much as 15 points during the game. They outperformed the Nuggets on the boards with 46 rebounds. On the defensive end, they had a better outing with their 12 blocks, compared to the six the Denver crew had.
The team shot better from beyond the arc and knocked down 39% from deep while the Nuggets shot 20%.
Fans were surprised to see the Wizards win
It was unexpected to see the Wizards capture a win over a Western Conference team that’s driven to compete for the championship. Fans went to X (formerly Twitter) to talk about how Washington performed against the 2023 champions.
“bro loves cookin the nuggets just like that first round series in 2022,” one fan said about Poole.
“JORDAN POOLE HAS NO HELP” another fan had jokes.
“Bro couldn’t get 40 😭” a fan trolled Poole.
Bro couldn’t get 40 😭
— Will (@willibetit) December 8, 2024
“Against former champions is wild #NoExcuses”
“This the man who ruined Jokers game 😭” a fan said about Poole.
“Wizards end the streak in dramatic fashion, even with Jokic’s historic night!”
Wizards end the streak in dramatic fashion, even with Jokic's historic night!
— Space Splits (@SpaceSplits) December 8, 2024
“Poole snatching Jokic’s chain was not on my 2024 bingo card”
“Perfect timing 😂 yesterday Trae did that to Lebron, today Poole gives Jokic that piece of magic”
“this the most wizards sht ever man”
this the most wizards sht ever man
— jay (@jayrlytromp) December 8, 2024
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Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
