Washington Wizards vs Denver Nuggets Match Player Stats On Oct 23, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 24, 2017

DENVER -- Bradley Beal scored 20 points, John Wall had 19 points and 12 assists, and the Washington Wizards beat the Denver Nuggets 109-104 on Monday night.

Otto Porter Jr. added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards (3-0), who began their four-game Western Conference road trip with a solid performance. All five Washington starters scored in double figures.

Nikola Jokic broke out with 29 points and nine rebounds, and Paul Millsap had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who struggled with ball control. Denver (1-2) committed 24 turnovers -- eight by Jokic -- and lost despite outshooting Washington 48.8 percent to 44 percent.

The solid shooting kept the Nuggets in the game for three quarters, but they went cold to start the fourth as Washington built 100-92 lead on Wall's free throw with 3:55 left.

Jokic tried to bring back Denver. He converted a three-point play, hit two more free throws and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to cut the deficit to 102-100 with 1:05 left.

After Wall hit a floater from just outside the lane, Jamal Murray hit an 18-foot jumper with 32.2 seconds left. Jokic was given a technical foul, and Beal hit the free throw to put Washington up by three. Beal then drove past Murray and hit a layup with 12 seconds left to make it 107-102, and the Wizards closed it out.

Jokic went scoreless and took only three shots on Saturday in Denver's win over the Sacramento Kings, but he came out aggressive Monday. He hit all five of his shots and scored 12 points in the first quarter. He had only four points in the second and third quarters combined before scoring 13 in the fourth.

Washington led by one at halftime and built it up to seven in the third quarter before Denver cut it back to one on Will Barton's buzzer-beating layup.

NOTES: Nuggets F Richard Jefferson was active for the first time since signing as a free agent on Thursday, though he didn't play. Juancho Hernangomez, who averaged 6.5 minutes in the first two games, was inactive due to an illness. ... Washington coach Scott Brooks said F Jason Smith (right shoulder sprain) is improving but wasn't ready to play Monday. He said Smith could play Wednesday. ... The Nuggets assigned rookie F Tyler Lydon and transferred rookie G Monte Morris to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and transferred rookie G/F Torrey Craig to the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. ... The Wizards have forced 60 turnovers in their first three games and have scored 66 points off the takeaways.