Nikola Jokic had 36 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his NBA-leading 13th triple-double of the season as the host Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 122-113 on Tuesday for their seventh consecutive win.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points, Jamal Murray contributed 17, Bruce Brown had 12 and Aaron Gordon added 11 points and a season-high eight assists for the Nuggets, who have won 14 straight home games.
Damian Lillard scored 44 points — the third time in four games he put up 40 or more — for the Trail Blazers, who have lost eight straight road games. Jerami Grant had 18 points, Anfernee Simons added 14 and Shaedon Sharpe finished with 13 for Portland, which had won its previous two contests.
Denver played the game without head coach Michael Malone after he was placed in health and safety protocol on Tuesday morning. Assistant David Adelman served as the acting head coach. Malone is likely to miss the Nuggets’ Wednesday home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, too.
76ers 120, Clippers 110
Joel Embiid scored 28 of his 41 points in the first half and Philadelphia continued its road success with a victory against Los Angeles.
Tyrese Maxey added 22 points and Tobias Harris had 20 against his former team as the 76ers improved to 3-0 to start a five-game road trip. Philadelphia extended its overall road winning streak to five games and won for the eighth time in the past 10 games overall. The Sixers topped 110 points for the 15th consecutive game, doing so even with James Harden limited to six points on 1-of-6 shooting.
Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and Norman Powell added 16 for the Clippers, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Los Angeles’ Paul George scored 13 points in his return after missing five games with a hamstring injury. Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac each scored 12 points for the Clippers, who finished 2-3 in a run of five consecutive home games.
Bucks 130, Raptors 122
Jrue Holiday surpassed the season high he set a day earlier, scoring 37 points, and Milwaukee downed visiting Toronto.
Bobby Portis recorded his 27th double-double of the campaign with 12 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which played its fourth consecutive game without Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee). Holiday engaged in a scoring duel with Toronto’s Fred VanVleet, who matched his season high with 39 points one day removed from putting up 33 points in the Raptors’ overtime win at New York.
The Bucks led 44-34 after the first quarter but trailed 74-67 at halftime. Brook Lopez scored 15 points in the third quarter and Grayson Allen added 14 as Milwaukee outscored Toronto 38-23 to grab a 105-97 edge. The Raptors got within one point three times in the fourth quarter but never regained the lead.
Spurs 106, Nets 98
Keldon Johnson scored a career-high 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as host San Antonio did just enough to beat short-handed Brooklyn.
Jeremy Sochan scored 16 points, all in the first half, for San Antonio, which snapped a five-game losing streak. T.J. Warren had 19 points for the Nets, who played without Kevin Durant (right knee sprain) and Kyrie Irving (right calf soreness). Brooklyn took its third straight loss despite getting a triple-double — 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists — from Ben Simmons.
Brooklyn closed to within four points on a Simmons layup with 7:48 remaining and was as close as 99-94 when Curry had a putback hoop with 2:16 left. However, the Spurs made the plays down the stretch, with Johnson hitting a 3-pointer with 57.3 seconds to play and Tre Jones canning a pair of free throws with 29.9 seconds left for an eight-point edge.
-Field Level Media
