Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 124-105 on Friday.
Jokic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double of the season and the 145th of his career after missing the previous two games due to an illness. It was the second time this season Jokic and Westbrook recorded triple-doubles in the same game.
Westbrook holds the NBA record with 202, with three of them coming this season.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points, Julian Strawther contributed 12, Christian Braun added 11 points and Peyton Watson had 10 for Denver, which has won six its past eight games.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray didn’t play in the second half due to left knee soreness.
Keon Johnson scored 22 points, Tyrese Martin had 19, Noah Clowney scored 14 and Tosan Evbuomwan, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton and Ziaire Williams had 10 points each.
Simmons returned to the Brooklyn lineup after missing the prior four games because of calf and back soreness.
The Nuggets led by six at halftime and built on that throughout the third quarter. Jokic scored Denver’s first five points of the second half, fed Braun and Porter for 3-pointers, then assisted on Porter’s layup and Westbrook’s trey that made it 82-64.
The lead grew to 94-73 late in the third period, but the Nets mounted a comeback in the fourth.
Evbuomwan scored eight points in the first 2:27 of the final period to spark a 13-3 run. The lead was 101-95 after Johnson drained a 3-pointer, but the Nuggets started to pull away again.
Westbrook made four free throws, Braun sank two from the line and Braun hit a running dunk in a 16-5 run that made it 117-100, and Denver closed it out.
Brooklyn led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but the Nuggets used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to lead 56-48. Johnson hit a layup just before the end of the period to get the Nets within 65-59 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
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