Nikola Jokic had 40 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, Michael Porter Jr. had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 134-124 in overtime on Sunday night.
Jamal Murray scored 21 points and added 12 assists, Bruce Brown scored 13 points and Aaron Gordon added six in his return to the lineup after missing five games with a rib injury.
Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points to lead Los Angeles. Paul George added 23 points, Russell Westbrook 17, Nicolas Batum 12 and Bones Hyland 10 against his former team. Mason Plumlee grabbed 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who fell in overtime for the second time in three nights.
Jokic split two free throws to open overtime and Murray and Porter hit 3-pointers amid a miss and turnover by George on consecutive Clippers possessions to give Denver a 127-120 lead.
Marcus Morris Sr. missed a 3-pointer and Jokic put back his own miss, and then his floater in the lane gave the Nuggets a 132-122 lead with 1:48 left. Jokic had a steal and fed Brown for an alley-oop to complete his 23rd triple-double of the season.
Denver led by 18 in the first quarter, but the Clippers rallied to get within six late in the second quarter, and the Nuggets led 66-58 at the half.
Los Angeles pulled within four early in the third, but Denver scored 10 straight points to lead 80-66. Another surge by the Clippers made it 85-80 late in the quarter. The Nuggets recovered to lead by nine heading into the fourth.
Denver went ahead 105-98 but Los Angeles went on an 11-2 run to take a 109-107 lead with 4:17 left. Jokic converted a three-point play and Leonard made two free throws as the Clippers stayed up by two points. Leonard scored four more points for Los Angeles and Jokic scored six straight for Denver to tie the game at 117.
Plumlee split a pair of free throws and Porter hit a 3-pointer to put the Nuggets in front 120-118 with 27.2 seconds left. George hit two free throws with 23 seconds left to send it to overtime.
–Field Level Media
