Jokic gets 28 points, Nuggets rout Blazers
DENVER » Nikola Jokic just missed out on his third straight triple-double, finishing with 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets spoiled Chauncey Billups return with a 124-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Billups, a Denver native who had two playing stints with the Nuggets, lost his head coaching debut in his hometown without star Damian Lillard.
Lillard was out with what the team called a lower abdominal tendinopathy. It is an injury the guard has dealt with before and aggravated at the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. Lillard played Wednesday and Friday night before Billups kept him out of Sunday night’s game.
“You know Dame doesn’t like to sit any game, any practice, anything, so I kind of had to force him to do this,” Billups said before the game. “It’s too early in the season to be playing hurt every single night. You need a break, take a break. If you don’t think you need one I might have to give you one.”
C.J. McCollum led Portland with 21 points, and Anfernee Simons had 16 starting in place of Lillard. Portland fell to 1-7 on the road.
Six Nuggets players scored in double figures. Rookie Bones Hyland scored 18 points to establish a career high for the fourth straight game.
Jokic came out with 1:24 left in the third quarter and Denver leading 88-77 and sat out the fourth. The Blazers got within nine but Denver went on a 21-4 run at the end of the third and start of the fourth
The Nuggets led by 15 early and never trailed in winning their fifth straight, all at home. They were up 67-53 at halftime and went up by 18 early in the third.
LAKERS 114, SPURS 106 » Anthony Davis had 34 points and 15 rebounds and Los Angeles beat San Antonio.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 17 points in his season debut for the Lakers, and Carmelo Anthony and Wayne Ellington each had 15 points.
Los Angeles led by 14 points in the second half, then held on improve to 3-3 since LeBron James was sidelined Nov. 4 because of an abdominal strain. The Lakers
have won four overall games this season without James.
Davis had the big game two days after the Lakers were humbled by 24 points in a home loss to Minnesota, with the AllStar forward saying afterward the performance was “embarrassing” and that the team lacked effort in a deciding third quarter.
Dejounte Murray had a triple-double for the Spurs with 22 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Keldon Johnson scored 24 points.
NETS 120, THUNDER 96 »
Kevin Durant scored 33 points to help Brooklyn beat Oklahoma City.
Durant played eight seasons in Oklahoma City, winning four scoring titles and an MVP award and leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals once before joining Golden State in 2016. He was booed during pregame warmups and whenever he touched the ball early.
Patty Mills scored 29 points and made a career-high nine 3-pointers, and James Harden added 16 points and 13 assists. Brooklyn has won eight of nine.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points for the Thunder.
HAWKS 120, BUCKS 100 »
Trae Young scored a season-best 42 points and Atlanta snapped a six-game losing streak, beating Milwaukee in an Eastern Conference final rematch.
Young just missed a triple-double, finishing with 10 assists and eight rebounds to push the Hawks to a much-needed victory.
Despite the return of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA champion Bucks lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Antetokounmpo scored 26 points in his return to the lineup after missing a game with a sprained right ankle. Jrue Holiday had 19 points.
SUNS 115, ROCKETS 89
Devin Booker had 26 points and six assists and Phoenix won its eighth straight game and handed Houston its 11th loss in a row.
Booker had 16 points in the first quarter, and finished 9 of 23 from the field. JaVale McGee added 19 points and 14 rebounds, Chris Paul had 15 points and seven steals, and Mikal Bridges had 14 points and six rebounds.
Christian Wood had 17 points and eight rebounds for Houston. The Rockets are an NBA-worst 1-12.