Jusuf Nurkic: Leads team with 23 points in opener

Nurkic was arguably the Nuggets’ MVP during preseason play and won a starting role because of it, but didn’t rest on those laurels in the season opener. The center was overshadowed by a monstrous performance from Anthony Davis (50 points, 16 rebounds, seven steals) in the opposing frontcourt, but he was nonetheless able to exert his will on the offensive end while converting well both from the field and free-throw line. Foul trouble and the presence of two quality big men in Nikola Jokic and Kenneth Faried figure to create built-in roadblocks that will prevent Nurkic from frequently seeing 30 minutes in any given game, but as he showed Wednesday and in the preseason, he doesn’t need a full workload to put up fat stat lines.