AUSTIN, Texas (Associated Press) — On Friday night, the Denver Nuggets defeated San Antonio 117-106 in a game that was played in the capital of Texas. The Spurs did their best to attract a record crowd in an effort to increase their regional fan base, but the Nuggets were able to defeat San Antonio. Nikola Jokic scored 31 points.

After having his first shot blocked by Victor Wembanyama, a rookie sensation from San Antonio, Jokic went on to shoot 13 of 19 from the field. The five-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player also contributed seven rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.

“I don’t think anybody can do what Nikola does,” stated Gregg Popovich, the coach of the Spurs Basketball team. Amazing is the word. What a thrill!”

The Denver Nuggets won their fifth consecutive game and for the eleventh time in their last 12 games to maintain their position as the top team in the Western Conference rankings. Jamal Murray contributed 15 points and 10 assists to the victory.

After suffering its third consecutive defeat, San Antonio was led by Jeremy Sochan, who scored 19 points, Devin Vassell, who scored 17 points, and Wembanyama, who scored 17 points.

Austin has been the location of the Spurs’ games for the past two seasons, which has allowed them to expand their financial reach and grow their fan base. The decision was well received, as evidenced by the fact that the Spurs broke the record for the number of people who attended a sporting event at the Moody Center: 16,223 people on Friday.

Despite this, Nuggets coach Michael Malone was afraid that his squad would not have the appropriate mindset because Austin is not a typical city for the National Basketball Association.

According to Malone, who was speaking before the game, “It has a preseason feel to it.” “I hope that once the jump ball is thrown, our players will realize that this is not the preseason and that this is a real game,” I said. It is imperative that we take steps to ensure that it receives the attention and respect that it merits.

The game presented some challenges in terms of its logistics. When it came to the stadium, the teams were not aware of where they should proceed. Bill Schoening, the radio announcer for the Spurs, was forced to deliver his broadcast over his cellphone since the monitors and television boards that were used for statistics were either not updating or were entirely out of commission.

Malone’s worries about how the reigning NBA champions would react were immediately dispelled, however, and nothing could have been more wrong.

The Nuggets had a field goal percentage of 55% and led by as much as 21 points at one point.

A total of 27 points were scored as a result of Denver’s 16 turnovers.

Malone described the activity. “It’s just tremendous.” From a defensive standpoint, you want to be disruptive. Allowing teams to run their offense script and giving them the freedom to take any shot they want is not something you want to do. If you want to make teams feel like they are a part of you and disturb them, I believe that we are doing a really fantastic job of doing that.

Even though Wembanyama made an early block on Jokic, Denver continued to attack the rim without any consequences. An alley-oop dunk was accomplished by Aaron Gordon one possession after he had already dunked, with Wembanyama following immediately behind. After that, Michael Porter Jr. finished off a three-point play by completing a contested layup for three points as Julian Champagnie committed a foul.

Gordon finished with seven points, while Porter finished with thirteen.

The first quarter was marked by a 12-0 run by Denver, which allowed them to establish a 19-point advantage.

According to Jokic, “When we play defense like that, we make our life really easier.” As a team, we are quite adept at running. We are able to go to the hoop, and we are able to make some open three-point shots. We are able to commit certain simple offenses. Today, our defense was present, which is something that should be present every day, and it was present today.

Due to a disputed layup by Keldon Johnson against Jokic with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter, the Spurs were able to reduce their deficit to 81-77; however, the Nuggets promptly reestablished a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter.

“There are some things that you simply cannot compete with,” Popovich stated. There is no way to compete with the amount of quality that they now possess with the young team that the Spurs have, but you can see what it takes. The consistency, the effort that we put forth, and the manner in which we played are all things that I am proud of. During the first quarter, we were really unstable, and in a sense, we had almost too much regard for ourselves. We appeared to be a little cautious, but they were able to get their act together and play effectively until about the halfway point of the third quarter. After that, Murray and Jokic took over the game.