NBA: Nikola Jokic's triple-double leads Nuggets past Hornets

It took time for Nikola Jokic to get cranked up, but he carried the Denver Nuggets during second-half stretches on his way to a triple-double in a 113-109 road victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

Jokic finished with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists, all team highs.

In a late-game, eight-minute span, Denver managed just seven points -- and Jokic had all of them. The Nuggets, who led by 13 early in the fourth quarter, had to hold off a furious rally from the Hornets.

Aaron Gordon scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half for the Nuggets (45-31), who won for just the third time in their past six games. Will Barton racked up 18 points and Jeff Green and Monte Morris both had 14 points.

Jokic hit two free throws with 1:25 left as Denver went up 109-104. LaMelo Ball scored for the Hornets before Morris sank two foul shots. Charlotte's Terry Rozier then connected on a 3-pointer.

Charlotte appeared to get the defensive stop it needed when Jokic missed a shot, but he grabbed his own rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws with 8.6 seconds left to push the lead to four.

Miles Bridges poured in 27 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Hornets (39-37). Ball had 22 points and 11 assists, Kelly Oubre Jr., Isaiah Thomas and Rozier all added 12 points and P.J. Washington posted 10 points.

Charlotte, which was coming off a road victory Sunday night against the Brooklyn Nets, hit only 13 of 42 attempts from 3-point range on Monday.

The Nuggets led 102-91 with 7 1/2 minutes to play. Charlotte tallied the next eight points, with Thomas and Bridges hitting 3-pointers to complete that part of the rally.

The Hornets held a 57-56 halftime edge despite shooting 5-for-20 from beyond the arc.

The Nuggets started to take control with a 13-0 run in the third quarter to move to an 80-71 lead. Jokic scored seven points during that stretch, including a free throw on a technical foul when Charlotte power forward Montrezl Harrell was ejected following a dust-up with Jokic and Gordon.

-reuters

NBA: Nikola Jokic's big night guides Nuggets over Spurs

Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 16 rebounds, Monte Morris scored 13 points, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-96 on Friday night.

Will Barton scored 12 points and JaMychal Green had 10 points off the bench for Denver, which won its home opener.

Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 27 points. Derrick White added 16 and Jakob Poeltl and Dejounte Murray scored 15 points each for the Spurs.

The Nuggets led by 11 after Green's dunk opened the fourth quarter, but San Antonio chipped away. Johnson hit two jumpers and Poeltl had a dunk and a layup to pull the Spurs within 83-78.

After a timeout, Denver had two empty possessions while White hit two free throws and Poeltl made another layup to make it a 1-point game.

San Antonio missed a 3-pointer that would have given it the lead and Facu Campazzo broke the Nuggets' drought with a layup. That started an 11-3 run capped by Michael Porter Jr.'s 3-pointer with 4:05 left.

Jokic's 13-foot turnaround jumper with 1:32 left made it 100-93, but White answered with a 3-pointer to get the Spurs within four. Morris hit a jumper that sealed it.

Denver scored the first basket of the third quarter, but San Antonio quickly responded. Poeltl dunked off a White miss, Johnson hit a pull-up jumper after Porter missed and Murray turned two Nuggets turnovers into a layup and a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 59-55 lead.

Denver responded with a 12-5 run, highlighted by Jokic grabbing a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast for a layup that tied the game.

The Nuggets increased the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer by Jokic and his pass to Campazzo for a layup, and took a 79-70 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Nuggets led 53-50 at the break but had 11 turnovers in the first half, which kept San Antonio close. Jokic had 13 points to lead Denver and Johnson paced San Antonio with 18 in the first two quarters.

-reuters-

NBA: Celtics use huge second-half run to topple Jokic, Nuggets

Jayson Tatum had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown finished with 20 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Denver Nuggets 105-87 on Sunday.

Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker scored 14 each and Robert Williams III scored 10 points for the Celtics, who went on a 31-3 run in the third and fourth quarters.

Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Michael Porter Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Facundo Campazzo scored 14 and Will Barton had 13 for Denver. The Nuggets had their eight-game winning streak snapped.

Denver led 79-65 with 2:17 left in the third quarter but the Celtics took control from that point.

Walker scored seven points, Brown had six to get Boston within a point early in the fourth quarter, and Langford hit two free throws to give the Celtics an 80-79 lead, their first of the game.

The Nuggets missed 10 straight shots and had five turnovers following Campazzo's 3-pointer that put them ahead by 14. The run ended with Monte Morris' jumper with 10-footer with 7:08 remaining.

Tatum then hit a jumper and a long 3-pointer to give Boston a 90-82 lead with 6:20 left.

Jokic got a rebound to get his 14th triple-double of the season and 55th of his career but he turned it over, leading to a dunk by Williams. The Celtics made two more field goals after misses by Jokic to push the lead to 96-82 with 4:41 left.

Porter's three-point play broke another Denver drought and was just the second Nuggets field goal since late in the third quarter.

The Nuggets scored just eight points over the final 14:17 of the game and missed 22 of their final 25 shots.

Denver led by 14 late in the first quarter and by 11 in the final minute of the second after two free throws by Porter. Smart hit a 3-pointer and Tatum a layup with less than a second left in the period to cut the Nuggets' lead to 51-45 at halftime.

-reuters