The Sports Xchange
Nov 7, 2017
DENVER -- Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Paul Millsap had 17 points, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 112-104 on Tuesday night.
Will Barton scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds for Denver (6-5).
Tyler Zeller led the Nets with a season-high 21 points off the bench, Caris LeVert had 13 points and D'Angelo Russell scored 12. Brooklyn (4-7) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Jokic, who took only three shots and didn't score in a win over the Sacramento Kings in the home opener Oct. 21, was aggressive throughout. He was 16 of 25 from the field in 31 minutes and had two blocks and two steals.
He is averaging 20.8 points over the last six games, and Denver is 4-2 in that stretch.
Jokic was the offensive catalyst when Denver pulled away from the Nets. He scored 10 of his 21 first-half points in the final 2:56 of the second quarter to lead a run and help the Nuggets lead 57-46 at intermission.
He scored 14 points in the third quarter when Denver went up by as many as 25. He outscored Brooklyn's starters 41-40.
Jokic went to the bench after picking up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter but returned to score four more points to eclipse his career high of 40 set Feb. 10 at New York. He fouled out soon after and headed to the bench to a rousing ovation from the sparse home crowd.
Brooklyn, which beat the Suns in Phoenix on Monday, led early behind Russell before Denver went up by 11 late in the first quarter. The Nets used a 9-0 run to get back in the game in the second quarter, but Denver responded with 11 consecutive points.
NOTES: Before the national anthem was performed, there was a moment of silence for the victims of the Texas church shooting. ... The Nets were forced into the visiting hockey locker room because the normal basketball locker room used by visiting teams was flooded when a sprinkler head was knocked off following a Jay-Z concert Sunday. ... Nuggets G Gary Harris finished with nine points, six steals and five assists. ... Brooklyn F Trevor Booker (sore lower back) and F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (right hip contusion) did not play. Booker has missed three games, while Hollis-Jefferson was injured Monday in a win at Phoenix. Both players are considered day-to-day.