Jokic gets 10th triple-double of season
DENVER: Nikola Jokic became the first NBA player with at least 10 triple-doubles in seven straight seasons as the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-101 on Thursday (Friday in Manila) for their third consecutive win.
Jokic had 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in his 115th career triple-double during the regular season. Denver also was bolstered by the return of Jamal Murray, who missed Tuesday’s game at Chicago with ankle soreness. He scored 16 points, and Peyton Watson added 18 for the defending champion Nuggets.
Playing the back end of back-toback games on the road, the Nets were missing Dennis Smith Jr., who did not make the trip while continuing to recover from an upper-back injury. They were led by Spencer Dinwiddie’s 17 points, with Cam Thomas adding 13.
Celtics 116, Cavs 107
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Boston Celtics improved to 12-0 at home.
Facing the Cavaliers for the second consecutive game at TD Garden after a victory on Tuesday,
Boston won for the sixth time in seven games overall.
Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points, Jrue Holiday had 15 and Derrick White 14 for the Celtics, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Tatum added 11 rebounds, and all five starters scored in double figures.
Donovan Mitchell paced Cleveland with 31 points, Caris LeVert finished with 26 and Darius Garland had 19. The Cavaliers have lost three straight.
Bulls 124, Heat 116
In Miami, Coby White scored 26 points, Ayo Dosunmu scored 24 off the bench and Chicago ran out to a huge lead before hanging on to beat Miami.
Nikola Vucevic finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls, while DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for Chicago.
The Bulls started the game on a 33-8 run and never trailed.
Chicago’s 25-point lead in the opening quarter was the secondlargest such edge in the NBA this season — Boston led Washington by 26 — and the Bulls’ biggest edge in the opening period of a game since they led Golden State 35-8 on a jumper by Michael Jordan on Jan. 31, 1997.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 22 for
Miami. Jimmy Butler scored 20, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin each had 17, and Kevin Love had 16 for the Heat.
Timberwolves 119, Mavericks 101
In Dallas, Naz Reid scored 19 of his season-high 27 points in the first half, Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, and Minnesota shook off an early 15-point deficit to beat Dallas.
The Wolves avoided their first losing streak of the season and matched Boston for the NBA’s best record.
Luka Doncic had 39 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Anthony Edwards, the Wolves’ leading scorer, returned to the lineup after missing three of the previous five games with a right hip pointer. Averaging 24.4 points coming in, he scored nine.