JUST NOW: Nikola Jokic dominates despite missing the last game, and the Nuggets defeat the Trail Blazers in the first of two games.

The day off for Nikola Jokic made a big difference.

Jokic, who has only missed one game so far this season—a 120-108 loss at Oklahoma City—strutted back to help the Nuggets defeat the Trail Blazers on Friday night. It was the first of two games in the series between the Western Conference foes at Ball Arena; the second game is set for Sunday.

Even though Jokic detests missing games in order to manage his workload, he acknowledged that taking the occasional break can benefit him in the long term. “I think it’s a smart thing to do,” he remarked.

He had recorded a triple-double for the second time this week by the end of the third quarter. When Jamal Murray went down cold and the other side was struggling to cling onto leads, Jokic led the Nuggets (34–16) with 27 points, 22 rebounds, 12 assists, and two blocks.

The manner in which they alternated in keeping watch over us. The Nuggets’ coach, Michael Malone, said, “He caught the ball, he scored.” “He found the man who was open after a double-team was dispatched.” It was exactly like reliving the great experience we had become accustomed to.

Peyton Watson provided the spark Denver needed in the non-Jokic minutes. After the advantage was down to five points, he scored ten of his fourteen points in the fourth quarter, capping it off with a corner 3-pointer that forced Chauncey Billups to call a timeout and put Jokic back in the game with a 103-93 lead. Aaron Gordon made nine shots for eighteen points. Caldwell-Pope Kentavious scored 16 points on eight.

After 50 games, Denver’s record is the same as it was the previous year.

Jokic remarked, “I like that we are playing with the same effort.” “We’re not going to take it easy just because we won a championship.” Our goals to improve and compete remain unwavering.

The two-time MVP was sidelined in Oklahoma City because of lower back soreness, but he took part in the team’s Friday morning shootaround and showed no problem stepping up his defensive efforts as soon as play began. Jokic was closing out, deflecting passes, and blocking shots. Every time he brought down a rebound, he was trying to dish out the touchdown outlet pass, which resulted in a few hockey assists. His half-court distribution was also quite sultry. He made touch passes in the vein of volleyball on several times, but he never received an assist.

After missing out on a corner three that was set up by one of those passes, Caldwell-Pope expressed regret. Even though he had drawn a foul on the miss to get three points, he mouthed, “My bad, Jok.”

Denver has been pushing the shooting guard as a first-team All-Defense contender this season, and the guard was pleased with Jokic’s defense on Friday.

“I feel like the more he’s up in pick-and-rolls and on the ball, I feel like that’s what he’s great at. Just being up. Active hands,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Getting deflections when they try to make that pocket pass. Like, he’s very active when he’s up on the screens and causing some high passes.”

Caldwell-Pope went to the bench to have his right hand treated late in the fourth quarter after an impressive defensive stand against Anfernee Simons on the wing. At some point while defending Simons one-on-one or contesting his shot, Caldwell-Pope had dislocated his pinky finger on his shooting hand, which was bandaged up later that night after team medical staff popped it back into place on the sideline. Caldwell-Pope said he thinks he’ll be available to play Sunday, and that there was no broken bone or fear of ligament damage.

“That’s one of the better defensive possessions I’ve seen in a long time,” Malone said.

At what point in the possession did the finger injury occur?

“I could not tell you,” Caldwell-Pope said, laughing. “I didn’t even realize. I realized it when I was walking to the bench. … It just popped out of place, so they popped it back in. But yeah, I don’t know what happened on that sequence.”

After 13 consecutive inactive games, rookie Julian Strawther was available off the bench for the first time since Jan. 4 at Golden State. Strawther, who has been out with a right knee contusion and sprain, didn’t end up playing even though he was cleared. Malone anticipated that would be the case before opening tip, saying the Nuggets plan to assign Strawther to the Grand Rapids Gold for a brief stay.

With the coaches and other players, he has been playing a few small side games. “But I think this is the reason you have a G League team,” Malone said. “We could attempt to dispatch him there via the G League, where he could engage in practice and potentially participate in a match.” Just get that game vibe before bringing him back, if that makes any sense. But I did spoke to him this morning. He is so happy right now. It makes him thrilled to be back in a uniform.