Nuggets thrive late, sit alone atop West
Nikola Jokic scored 41 points to power host Denver past Minnesota and into sole possession of first place in the tight Western Conference playoff race with a 116107 win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Jokic hit 16 of 20 shots against the NBA’S best defense while being guarded most of the night by the league’s top defender, Rudy Gobert. Jamal Murray added 20 points in 27 minutes, and Michael Porter Jr. scored 18 for the Nuggets.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 25 points but was a non-factor in the fourth quarter as Denver pulled away. Mike Conley added 19 points for the Timberwolves.
Denver (56-24) took a one-game lead over Minnesota and Oklahoma City, who are both 55-25.
The Timberwolves led most of the night, but the Nuggets closed the third quarter on a 9-1 run to take an 83-80 lead into the fourth. Denver’s second unit extended the margin to 91-87 before Jokic and Murray returned with 7:30 left.
The defending NBA champion Nuggets are a West-best 33-8 at home. Denver and Minnesota split their season series 2-all, and the Nuggets need to finish ahead of the Thunder and the Timberwolves, who have the better division winning percentage and therefore the tiebreaker, to earn their second straight No. 1 seed.
Denver parlayed the top seed last year into a 10-1 run at home in the playoffs on the way to its first NBA championship.
The Nuggets wrap up their regular season with games at San Antonio and Memphis.
■ Mavericks 111, Heat 92: At Miami, Luka Doncic had 29 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for Dallas, which won its fifth straight and 12th in 13 games to clinch the Southwest Division title. Kyrie Irving scored 25 points for the Mavs, who will open the playoffs against the
Los Angeles Clippers. Miami has alternated wins and losses for its past six games.
■ Suns 124, Clippers 108: At
Los Angeles, Devin Booker scored 37 points for Phoenix, which went ahead with a 13-0 fourth-quarter run and closed on a 23-2 spurt. Bones Hyland had 37 points and nine assists for Los Angeles, which had won four in a row. The outcome locked Golden State and the Los Angeles Lakers into the play-in tournament.
■ Hornets 115, Hawks 114: At Atlanta, Miles Bridges hit a go-ahead layup with 3.8 seconds left and totaled 18 points for Charlotte in its second win in eight games. Trae Young returned after missing 23 games because of a torn left pinkie ligament and had 14 points and 11 assists in 21 minutes for Atlanta, which lost its fourth in a row.
■ Cavaliers 110, Grizzlies 98:
At Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points for Cleveland, which halted a three-game skid and moved one win away from clinching a playoff spot. Jake Laravia hit eight 3-pointers and totaled 32 points for Memphis, which has used an NBArecord 33 players this season.
■ Bucks 117, Magic 99: At Milwaukee, Bobby Portis had 30 points, nine rebounds and five steals for Milwaukee (49-31), which improved to 4-3 in games that twotime MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (left calf strain) has missed this season.
■ Nets 106, Raptors 102: At
New York, Cam Thomas scored 23 points and Dennis Schroder 21 for Brooklyn, which overcame a ninepoint third-quarter deficit in its third win in four games. Toronto lost for the 17th time in 19 games.
■ Thunder 127, Spurs 89: At Oklahoma City, Shai GilgeousAlexander scored 26 points in 26 minutes for Oklahoma City, which didn’t trail won its third straight. San Antonio was without its top four scorers because of injuries.