Denver’s Nikola Jokic scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 18-plus minutes of court time — all in the first half — as the visiting Nuggets rolled to a 128-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both playoff-bound teams.
The Nuggets (54-28) clinched the third seed in Western Conference and will host sixth-seeded Minnesota for the first two games of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series either April 18 or 19. Denver ended the regular season with 12 straight wins and took three of the four games against the Spurs this year.
Jokic played the necessary minutes to reach the league’s 65-game threshold for postseason award consideration. That game total also allowed Jokic to become the first player in NBA history to lead in both rebounds per game (12.9) and assists per game (10.7).
Victor Wembanyama sat out the game for San Antonio, which already clinched the No. 2 spot in the West and had little to gain from Sunday’s game. The Spurs will host the winner of Tuesday’s 7/8 play-in tournament game between Phoenix and Portland in the opening two contests of a best-of-seven first-round playoffs series on either April 18 or 19.
The Spurs had a three-game winning streak snapped but finished the campaign with a 62-20 mark, their best since the 2015-16 season in which they won 67 games.
Julian Strawther had 25 points to lead the Nuggets, with Jonas Valanciunas adding 16 points and 11 rebounds, David Roddy amassing 15 points and 13 rebounds, Bruce Brown scoring 14 points, Curtis Jones hitting for 13 and Jalen Pickett tallying 11.
De’Aaron Fox paced the Spurs with 24 points. Devin Vassell added 19, Keldon Johnson had 18, Carter Bryant scoring 13, Harrison Barnes 12 and Stephon Castle finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Jokic played all 12 minutes of the first quarter, scoring 12 points and taking seven rebounds to help the Nuggets establish a 37-34 lead at the end of the period. Denver pushed its advantage to 23 points with 3:02 to play in the second quarter before the Spurs pulled to within 70-56 at the break.
The Nuggets also got 16 points from Strawther in the first half and Jones scored 13. San Antonio got 15 points from Vassell and 14 from Fox.
The Spurs tried to get back in game, drawing to within nine points in the third quarter and to 101-95 after a Bryant layup with 11:14 left in the game. But Denver’s reserve players had enough in the tank to finish off the win.
–Field Level Media
