Nikola Jokic scored 29 points, Jamal Murray had 21 points and 10 assists, and the host Denver Nuggets used a big surge in the fourth quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 112-103 on Sunday night.
Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. scored 12 points each and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 11 before leaving late in the game with an apparent injury to his right hamstring.
Deandre Ayton scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Anfernee Simons had 26 points and nine assists, Scoot Henderson finished with 14 points and Toumani Camara added 10 points for short-handed Portland.
The Blazers played without guard Malcolm Brogdon, who was ruled out before the game with a right knee contusion. Portland already was missing Jerami Grant and Shaedon Sharpe, both of whom have missed multiple games.
The Blazers led for most of the game but fizzled in the last 4:17 of the third quarter. Matisse Thybulle split a pair of free throws that put Portland ahead 84-75 but then missed its last eight shots of the period and committed three turnovers.
Denver took advantage, taking its first lead on a layup by Jokic with five seconds left in the third to cap a run of 11 straight points and make it 86-84 heading into the fourth.
The Blazers’ struggles continued to start the final quarter, missing their first two shots while the Nuggets expanded their lead to seven. Kris Murray ended the drought with a layup but Jamal Murray’s pull-up 3-pointer gave Denver a 94-86 lead.
Jabari Walker missed a 3-pointer out of a timeout and jumpers from Reggie Jackson and Watson and a tip-in by Gordon capped a 25-4 run that gave the Nuggets a 100-88 lead.
Caldwell-Pope’s 3-pointer with 2:44 left gave Denver a 15-point lead, its biggest of the game. He left 30 seconds later clutching his right hamstring.
Portland was 10-for-18 from behind the arc in the first half and led by as many as 14 points, but the Nuggets rallied to cut the deficit to 63-60 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
