By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Jokic paved the way in a fourth-quarter comeback on Sunday. The Serbian superstar rallied the Denver Nuggets past the Chicago Bulls 133–128 at Ball Arena.
With his side spending most of the evening playing from behind, they fell into a 15-point deficit before Jokic ignited a third-quarter surge to get the Nuggets back on track en route to victory in the NBA Preseason 2206.
The 31-year-old center looked entirely ready for the 2026–27 Regular Season. He dominated the floor in just 26 minutes of action. The big racked up 22 points, 11 rebounds, and ten assists to secure a triple-double, adding a block to his stat line. Jokic missed only four shots all night, finishing 8-of-12 from the floor and hitting one from deep.
Chicago’s Lithuanian starter, Matas Buzelis, turned in a solid performance, recording 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a block. Off the bench, French Noa Essengue offered eight points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Hezonja makes most of his minutes
Earlier at Rocket Arena, the Cleveland Cavaliers outpaced the Orlando Magic with a balanced second unit to win 119–105. James Harden set the tone with 24 points.
The bench kept the momentum, including Mario Hezonja tallying 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The Croatian forward also filled the box score with five rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals. Dutch Tristan Enaruna logged a brief cameo, chipping in three points.
Orlando relied heavily on their European rotation. German starters Tristan da Silva and Franz Wagner showed flashes of rhythm with 17 points and a pair of steals, and ten points alongside five assists, respectively. French reserve Noah Penda posted eight points, five rebounds, and five assists, with Georgian Goga Bitadze at seven points and Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic at two points.
Hornets top Bucks
At Spectrum Center, the Charlotte Hornets used a disciplined defense to stifle the Milwaukee Bucks 105–90.
Establishing physical presence early. French Moussa Diabate protected the paint, pulling down 11 rebounds to go with eight points and two blocks. Fellow starter, German Dennis Schroder, steadied the backcourt with four assists to go with three points. Off the bench, German Hannes Steinbach threw in eight points and five boards, and French Tidjane Salaun scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds. However, German Christian Anderson Jr. remains day-to-day with a left ankle sprain.
For the Bucks, French Ousmane Dieng, Lithuanian Kasparas Jakucionis, and Serbian Bogoljub Markovic were held out. Italian Nate Ament also sat out while nursing a sprained left ankle.
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