The Sports Xchange
Nov 25, 2017
DENVER -- Nikola Jokic had 14 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets survived a Memphis rally to beat the Grizzlies 104-92 on Friday night.
Jokic added 13 rebounds and eight assists to just miss his first triple-double of the season. Gary Harris and Jamal Murray scored 15 apiece and Kenneth Faried had 14 points and nine rebounds to help Denver improve to 8-2 at home this season.
The Nuggets (11-8) were playing their first home game since Paul Millsap went down with a left wrist injury in Sunday's loss at the Los Angeles Lakers. Denver is planning to be without its second-leading scorer for a few months, with surgery likely to repair ligament damage in the joint.
Marc Gasol had 15 points and a career-high 14 assists for Memphis, JaMychal Green scored a season-high 21 points and Tyreke Evans had 15 off the bench for the Grizzlies.
Memphis (7-11) has lost seven in a row for the first time since Nov. 1-11, 2009.
Jokic rescued the Nuggets after the Grizzlies trimmed a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to two points heading into the fourth. He scored the first six points of the quarter to put Denver up 82-74, assisted on a layup by Harris and then hit a 3-pointer to make it 92-81 with 5:43 left.
Jokic finished the quarter with a three-point play that made it 102-89 with 1:10 left.
The Nuggets shot 65.8 percent from the floor in the first half and built an 18-point lead with a 10-2 run late in the second quarter.
Jokic scored eight of his 13 first-half points in the final 3:21 of the second quarter to help Denver go up 61-45 at intermission.
The Nuggets were 5 of 20 from the field in the third quarter and were outscored 29-15.
NOTES: The Nuggets shot better from 3-point range (46.2 percent) than from the foul line (38.5 percent) in the first half. They finished the game shooting 28.1 percent from long range and 57.7 percent from the line. ... The Grizzlies had a season-low 23 rebounds and only 10 at halftime. It was their low for any half this season. ... Memphis F Brandan Wright missed his third straight game with a groin injury. ... Nuggets C Wilson Chandler was in the lineup despite dealing with low back pain that kept him out of Monday's win over Sacramento. ... The Grizzlies are 0-6 without guard Mike Conley, who is out indefinitely with a sore left Achilles.