Nuggets show mettle, tie series with Blazers
Jokic, Denver rebound after marathon loss
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Denver Nuggets have been good at bouncing back all season.
Not even a draining four-overtime defeat could keep this team down. Nikola Jokic had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second straight triple-double and fourth of the playoffs, and the Nuggets evened their Western Conference semifinal series against the Portland Trail Blazers at 2-2 with a 116-112 victory Sunday.
It was less than 48 hours after Portland’s epic 140-137 quadruple-overtime victory. It was the second game in playoff history that went to four OTS. The other was in 1953.
“It’s not quitting. We have a lot of competitive guys who don’t want to lose. I think we don’t want to lose more than we like to win — which is weird,” Jokic said. “We just didn’t want to have the excuse that we lost because of four overtimes, because we were tired.”
Jamal Murray led all scorers with 34 points, making all 11 of his free throws, for the Nuggets, who handed Portland its first home playoff loss this season. The series heads back to Denver for Game 5.
C.J. Mccollum had 29 points and Damian Lillard 28 for the Blazers, who missed out on taking a 3-1 lead in a conference semifinals for the first time since 2000.
“Our guys are tough. We’re resilient,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I mean, to come in here and win this game 36 hours after losing in four overtimes, speaks to just how tough we are.”
Raptors 101, 76ers 96 —
At Philadelphia, Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points, including a key 3-pointer with 1:01 left, for Toronto, which tied the series at two wins apiece.
Joel Embiid, who scored 33 points for Philadelphia in the Sixers’ Game 3 win, mustered 11. The All-star center missed a layup that would have put Philadelphia ahead by one in the final two minutes.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 points for the Sixers.