Field Level Media
Dec 14, 2019
Nikola Jokic recorded 28 points, 14 rebounds and matched his season high of 12 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season to help the Denver Nuggets post a 110-102 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
Will Barton scored 18 points and Jamal Murray added 14 points and seven assists as Denver defeated the Thunder for the seventh straight time. Jerami Grant tallied 13 points and Gary Harris had 11 for the Nuggets.
Dennis Schroder scored 22 points and Steven Adams added 18 points and 14 rebounds as Oklahoma City lost its second straight to complete a 2-2 road trip.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 16 points, Chris Paul had 15 points, 10 assists and four steals, and Abdel Nader added 14 points.
Former Nuggets player Danilo Gallinari was just 1-of-13 shooting and scored seven points.
Jokic, who made 11 of 14 field-goal attempts, is tied with Rajon Rondo for 11th place in NBA history with 32 career triple-doubles.
Denver shot 50.6 percent from the field, but was just 7 of 27 from 3-point range.
The Thunder connected on 46.9 percent from the floor and made 6 of 23 from behind the arc.
Oklahoma City trailed by 13 with just two-plus minutes into the fourth quarter before using an 11-3 run to pull within 93-88 with 6:50 remaining.
Jokic scored seven points during an ensuing 9-0 spurt as the Nuggets pushed their margin up to 14.
Jokic started it off with two throws and added a dunk before Gary Harris had a steal and fast-break layup to give the Nuggets an 11-point advantage with six minutes left.
Jokic completed the burst by draining a 3-pointer to make it 102-88 with 4:35 remaining.
The Thunder later pulled with 108-100 when Schroder knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:38 left, but they were unable to mount a final charge.
Denver led by as many as 16 in the first half before settling for a 52-49 lead at the break.
The Nuggets were 9-of-11 shooting to open the game to take a 22-6 lead. The Thunder rallied back to trail 27-20 after one quarter.
Denver used a 12-2 surge in the third quarter to open up a 77-62 lead. Torrey Craig later buried a 3-pointer to again make it a 16-point margin before Darius Bazley made two free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to pull the Thunder within 82-68 entering the final stanza.
--Field Level Media