Nikola Jokic scored 15 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, and the host Denver Nuggets rallied from down 11 in the final 6:13 to beat the Golden State Warriors 119-115 in the NBA Cup on Tuesday night.
Golden State won the West Group C with a 3-1 mark and moves on to the knockout round. Denver finished 2-2.
Jokic also had 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Michael Porter Jr. scored 22 points, Aaron Gordon had 15 points, Jamal Murray contributed 12 and Christian Braun scored 11 for Denver.
The Warriors, who played without forward Draymond Green (calf injury), lost their fifth straight despite 24 points and 11 assists from Stephen Curry. Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points. Andrew Wiggins, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody scored 13 each and Gary Payton II added 11.
It was 113-106 after Curry’s layup with 4:03 left, but Denver took over. Jokic fed Gordon for a dunk and hit a short jumper, Murray hit two free throws and Jokic made an 18-footer to tie it at 115.
Curry missed a 3-pointer, Gordon made two more free throws and Murray’s steal led to clinching foul shots from Jokic.
Golden State started the fourth on a 10-2 run to take a 95-92 lead. Payton, Curry and Moody hit 3-pointers around a floater by Jokic to extend the lead to 104-94.
It increased to 109-98 after Moody was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws, but Porter had a dunk and a 3-pointer to get within six.
Denver opened the second half with seven straight points, but the Warriors surged back and tied it at 73. Julain Strawther’s jumper at the end of the quarter gave the Nuggets a 90-85 lead heading into the fourth.
Both teams had hot stretches in the second quarter. Golden State trailed 36-31, went on a 19-4 run and eventually went ahead 54-42 with 4:57 left.
Denver reeled off 12 straight points to tie it, and the teams went to the locker room even at 57.
–Field Level Media
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