Canadian Murray helps beat Raptors
TORONTO The Toronto Raptors were seven seconds away from possibly salvaging a bad game, and potentially capturing their ninth consecutive victory.
Instead, Nikola Jokic had three free throws in the dying seconds and Toronto’s eight-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of Jokic, Canadian Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets.
Murray, from Kitchener, Ont., had 21 points, while Jokic had a triple double — 23 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds — in Denver’s 106-103 victory over Toronto, the Nuggets’ sixth win in a row.
“(Jokic) does everything. He passes, rebounds, handles the ball. There’s nothing that he can’t do except jump,” Murray said with a laugh. “He did a lot for us tonight, he hit some big clutch free throws, we got it done tonight.”
Kawhi Leonard had 27 points for Toronto (20-5), while Serge Ibaka had 15, Pascal Siakam chipped in with 14, Kyle Lowry had 11 assists and Jonas Valanciunas hauled down 10 rebounds.
Moments after the game, Lowry had already left the locker-room while Leonard headed to the upstairs gym to work out.
Clawing their way back from a 12-point deficit, a fadeaway shot by Leonard tied the game with 7.1 seconds on the clock. But Ibaka was whistled for a foul on the Nuggets’ inbounds play.
“I’m going to have to look at (the video),” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who earlier in the day was named Eastern Conference coach of the month. “I asked (the official), he said he had to call it. I don’t know, guys coming off a screen, I’ve got to look at it, I haven’t seen it yet.”
WARRIORS 128, HAWKS 111
ATLANTA — Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Kevin Durant had 28 and Klay Thompson chipped in with 27 as Golden State cruised past Atlanta, snapping a six-game losing streak on the road.
CLIPPERS 129, PELICANS 126
NEW ORLEANS — Tobias Harris made two clutch free throws with 4.7 seconds left to close out a 27point performance, and Los Angeles held off New Orleans.
THUNDER 110, PISTONS 83
DETROIT — Steven Adams scored 21 points, Russell Westbrook added 18 and Oklahoma City ended Detroit’s five-game winning streak.
TIMBERWOLVES 103, ROCKETS 91
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns helped erase a 14-point halftime deficit to lift Minnesota over Houston.
CAVALIERS 99, NETS 97
NEW YORK — Jordan Clarkson had 20 points and 11 rebounds, newcomer Alec Burks threw down a two-handed dunk with 3.2 seconds left in regulation and Cleveland avoided a fourth-quarter collapse against Brooklyn.