BREAKING NEWS: LOS ANGELES LAKERS HAVE SUSPENDED ANOTHER KEY PLAYER FROM THEIR TEAM TODAY………..
The Serbian superstar arrived at the Ball Arena dressed as Gru, the lead character from “Despicable Me,” in an apparent nod to his appearance in a teaser for the franchise’s fourth movie in which he seeks therapy for his outfits being compared on social media to those worn by Gru and jokes that the Minions think he is their boss.
On the court, meanwhile, Jokić posted a near triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to inspire the Nuggets to a 114-103 win over the Lakers and take a 1-0 lead in the playoff series.
They overcame a slow start, trailing by as many as 10 points midway through the second quarter, while Lakers star LeBron James scored 19 first-half points to put his team ahead.
“We’re not going anywhere. This is the playoffs,” Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters afterwards. “No team in the playoffs, if you get down 12 early, you’re not going to just take your ball and go home. We still have plenty of fight left in us and we know that we were better than what we were playing early.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference on Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Phoenix Suns 120-95 in Game 1 of their playoff series.
Meanwhile in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the Orlando Magic 97-83 and the New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 111-104.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic scored 32 points to help his side overcome a narrow deficit at half-time to win.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns 120-95.
In the Eastern Conference, there were wins for the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Knicks recorded a 111-104 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, while the Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 97-83.
Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 22 points each as the second seeds responded to Philadelphia’s third-quarter surge by pulling in front late on to seal victory.
The Cavaliers never trailed the Magic in an impressive showing, with Donavon Mitchell scoring 30 points.
The Nuggets beat the Lakers in all of their regular season games but made a slow start before a 13-0 run in the third quarter put them in control.
