Porter, Jokic lead Nuggets past Thunder in overtime
Michael Porter Jr. scored a career-high 37 points and Nikola Jokic had a tripledouble to help the Denver Nuggets top the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-113 in overtime on Monday.
Jokic had 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help Denver strengthen its hold on third place in the Western Conference standings.
Porter, who averages just 7.5 points, had the big performance in only his third start of the season. His previous career high was 25 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.
It was a key win for the Nuggets in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, who were missing three starters. Jamal Murray sat out with left hamstring tightness, forward Will Barton sat out with left knee soreness and guard Gary Harris sat out with a strained right hip.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, Chris Paul had 23 and Danilo Gallinari added 20 for the Thunder, who also were short-handed. Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Dennis Schroder, Oklahoma City’s No. 3 scorer for the season, left the bubble to join his wife for the birth of their second child.
PACERS 111, WIZARDS 100 >> T.J. Warren kept up his red-hot restart with 34 more points, helping the Indiana Pacers pull away from the Washington Wizards. Two nights after scoring a career-best 53 points in the Pacers’ first game at Disney, Warren had 16 points in the third quarter to spark a 22-2 run after Washington had fought back into the game.
Warren shot 14 for 26 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who improved to 2-0 since resuming the season. They played without star guard Victor Oladipo, who rested on the first night of backto-back games.
RAPTORS 107, HEAT 103
Fred VanVleet scored a career-high 36 points and made seven 3-pointers, and the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors added to their strong restart with a victory over the Miami Heat.
Toronto resumed its season by beating the Lakers and remains in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Goran Dragic had 25 points for the Heat.
PELICANS 109, GRIZZLIES 99
>> Brandon Ingram scored 24 points and New Orleans got a much-needed victory over Memphis despite another Zion Williamson shoe >> incident.
Williamson had 23 points, seven rebounds and tied a career high with five assists in his most extensive playing time since returning to the NBA bubble.
Williamson drove the lane in the third quarter and landed awkwardly, losing his left shoe. However, he quickly put the shoe back on and remained in the game.
NBA TWEAKS COVID-19 PROTOCOL AMID GLITCHES >> The NBA has tweaked its COVID-19 protocol to allow players to return sooner from inconclusive test results, ESPN reported.
Citing a league memo, ESPN reports that the NBA has reduced the waiting period from 48 to 24 hours for players who return an inconclusive result, which is happening at a rate of five of every 1,000.
However, the player must test negative twice, once in an immediate retest and then a second time within 60 minutes of the tipoff of the next game, according to the report. The change comes with an eye toward the playoffs so that testing glitches don’t unduly sideline players, according to the report.
MAGIC’S ISAAC TEARS ACL
>> Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac was wheeled off the court after tearing the ACL in his left knee in a 132-116 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. In the Magic’s 128118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in the first game of the NBA’s return, Isaac scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. He is averaging 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds in 34 games.