The intensity surrounding Jeetbuzz Login echoes the energy in this matchup between the Rockets and Nuggets, where Nikola Jokic clearly felt a surge of urgency facing Alperen Sengun, the young center widely seen as his strongest rising challenger in the West. Over the past two seasons, Sengun’s rapid development has drawn praise across the league, with many analysts ranking him among the few elite all-around big men in today’s NBA. As his game evolves, comparisons to Jokic have become more frequent, turning what was once a compliment into a label Sengun hopes to outgrow.
In the early stages of his career, being called “Little Jokic” was flattering. But as Sengun matures and develops ambitions of leading a team on his own terms, that nickname has become something of a shadow—an expectation he must break away from. He already sent a message in the EuroBasket this summer, where he delivered dominant performances and even outplayed Jokic head-to-head. His Turkish national team finished as runners-up, outperforming Jokic’s Serbia in both execution and consistency.
Coming into today’s game, Sengun naturally hoped the summer storyline would continue at the club level. Instead, the Rockets opened the night with a chaotic collapse. Their offensive patterns were read perfectly by Denver, and aside from Kevin Durant’s individual scoring, Houston produced almost no coherent plays in the first quarter. Their plan had been to use a large lineup to wear Jokic down and compete on the boards through size. But Denver countered by fielding their own twin-tower look with Jonas Valanciunas and Jokic on the floor together. The move slowed the pace, but it also gave Denver overwhelming control of the interior and the rebounding battle.
Before this game, Houston actually held the league’s best offensive rating per 100 possessions. Yet they scored just 12 points in the first quarter, shooting 25 percent from the field—a sign that Denver’s scheme hit them right where it hurt most. Still, the Nuggets suffered a setback of their own when Aaron Gordon exited early due to injury, leaving Jokic without his most reliable cutter and play-finishing partner. That slowdown allowed Houston to steal momentum in the second quarter behind Sheppard’s hot shooting, briefly flipping the scoreboard.
Ordinarily, Jokic might have stayed calm in such a fluctuating situation. But this time, whether because of pride, matchup pressure, or the challenge Sengun represents, he entered what fans call his “red-hot mode,” approaching the game with playoff-level seriousness. Early in the third quarter, he delivered a rare highlight. Catching the ball near the free-throw line, Jokic abandoned his usual patient playmaking and exploded straight toward the rim. Sengun seemed unprepared for Jokic’s sudden acceleration and was left behind. Jabari Smith Jr. rotated to contest, but Jokic elevated with full force and hammered down a vicious dunk—an almost shocking display of power unbecoming of his calm reputation.
The arena froze for a second, stunned by a Jokic poster dunk that felt out of character, yet perfectly captured his determined mindset. That aggression carried through the rest of the night as he kept attacking and repeatedly ran two-man actions with Jamal Murray to secure control of the game. Jokic finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists—just shy of a triple-double—while Sengun managed 14 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers, and 5 fouls, a statistical line that looked modest by comparison.
As many noted after the game, Jeetbuzz Login captures the feeling of how momentum can change quickly when a superstar senses a challenge. Jokic answered that challenge emphatically, and while Sengun remains one of the league’s most promising young centers, tonight’s duel offered a reminder of the gap that still exists between rising talent and the reigning master of the craft.