Jokic Leads Nuggets Past Pacers in Mexico City

Nikola Jokic scored 10 of his 19 points in the opening quarter, and the Denver Nuggets held off a furious Indiana Pacers rally to win 114-102 in the NBA Mexico City Game on Saturday at Arena CDMX. Jokic finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, Cameron Johnson added a season-high 18 points, and Jamal Murray contributed 16 points and eight assists as Denver improved to 5-3. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 23 points for Indiana, which fell to 3-7.

Denver took control early and never let it go. The Nuggets led 27-19 after the first quarter, then won the second quarter 37-22 to carry a 64-41 advantage into halftime. Indiana trailed by as many as 27 points in the first half, and although the Pacers outscored Denver after the break, they never got closer than seven points.

Denver builds a 27-point cushion

The first half was decided by Indiana's shooting. The Pacers made just 16 of 48 field goals, a 33.3 percent mark, and went 5 of 23 from beyond the arc. Denver outscored Indiana 30-16 in the paint before halftime, and the Nuggets did not commit a single turnover in the first half while the Pacers gave the ball away six times. Jokic punished the Pacers inside even on an inefficient shooting night, finishing 7 of 20 from the floor but 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Johnson gave Denver the secondary scoring it needed, reaching his season high of 18 points, while Murray steadied the Nuggets with 16 points and eight assists. Denver's lead peaked at 27 points, and the Nuggets' ball security meant Indiana could not manufacture the easy transition baskets that usually fuel a comeback. By halftime, the game looked settled, and the only question was whether the Pacers could make the second half respectable.

Indiana's third-quarter surge

The Pacers answered with their best quarter of the season. Indiana scored 37 points in the third quarter alone, shooting 15 of 23 from the floor and 7 of 12 from three-point range. Across the second half, the Pacers shot 56.8 percent from the field, made 10 three-pointers and scored 28 points in the paint. Siakam led the push, but the rally kept stalling at the same barrier: every time Indiana trimmed the margin, Jokic or Murray produced a steadying basket, and Denver never allowed the gap to fall below seven points.

Ivica Zubac gave Indiana a lift in his second game back from an ankle sprain, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists. The contrast with his return on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies was sharp: in that game he scored one point on 0-of-5 shooting with four rebounds in 18 minutes and 47 seconds. In Mexico City, however, the assignment of guarding Jokic put Zubac in foul trouble, limiting him to 19 minutes of action, and Indiana was outscored by six points during his time on the floor.

Siakam's milestone night

Siakam's 23 points came on 10-of-18 shooting, and the performance carried a personal milestone. Playing in his 700th NBA game, the Indiana forward passed 13,000 career points, finishing the night on 13,003. He has now scored at least 20 points in seven of Indiana's nine games this season, and his consistency has been one of the few reliable parts of a difficult start for the Pacers. Larry Nance Jr. added 15 points off the bench, hitting five three-pointers, but Indiana's supporting cast could not close the gap created in the first half.

T.J. McConnell made his season debut after missing the first nine games and the entire preseason, and the 34-year-old veteran looked comfortable despite the setting. He scored six points on 3-of-5 shooting with two rebounds and one assist in nine minutes and one second of first-half action, doing defensive slides during timeouts to stay loose. McConnell was on a minutes restriction, however, and did not appear in the second half. The altitude was an extra challenge for both teams: Mexico City sits about 7,350 feet above sea level, significantly higher than even Denver.

A delayed start and a Mexican milestone

The game itself started late after a strange pregame problem. According to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, the basket Denver was warming up on did not meet regulation standards, and play was delayed by about 10 minutes while the rim was levelled. Once the game began, the occasion itself was a landmark for the league: it was the 35th NBA game played in Mexico since the league first brought exhibition games to the country in 1992, and the 16th regular-season contest staged south of the border.

What comes next

The win capped a 2-1 week for Denver from November 1 to 7, a response to the loss in Portland that had ended the previous stretch on a low note. The Nuggets next face the Houston Rockets on Monday, while the Pacers meet the Dallas Mavericks the same day. For Indiana, the lesson of Mexico City was clear: a 37-point third quarter proved the offence can ignite, but no team can expect to win after spotting its opponent 27 points. For Denver, the win showed the Nuggets can survive an off shooting night from Jokic, because the supporting cast and the ball security were enough to protect a lead built in the first half.