SAN FRANCISCO – Nikola Jokic scored 32 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and provided 16 assists to achieve his third consecutive triple-double and the 18th this season after his long whistle against Golden State decided the last match, leading the defending champion Denver Nuggets to victory over the Denver Nuggets. The Warriors are back in a 119-103 win Sunday night.
Jokic hit a Stephen Curry-like 40-footer as Denver rallied for a 130-127 win at Chase Center on Jan. 4, then outscored Curry and Co. to sweep the four-game season series. On Sunday, Jokic went 13-24 en route to his 122nd triple-double of the regular season.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points, all in the first half, and Curry overcame a slow start and missed his first seven three-point attempts before finishing with 20 points — all but four of them in the second half. He only made a 3 with 3:26 remaining in the third with a 1-for-10 performance from deep. The two-time MVP surpassed both Dwyane Wade (23,165) for 32nd and Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 31st on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Aaron Gordon 17 in the Nuggets' seventh consecutive victory over the Warriors, their tenth in 11, and also their fifth in a row at Golden State since the 113-102 defeat on March 10, 2022.
Down 65-61 after a layup by Curry at 10:30 of the third period, the Nuggets responded with another 14-0 run to take a 75-65 lead. Jokic scored back-to-back layups before Murray scored five straight. They also finished the first half on a 14-0 run in the final 2:47 to tie the game at 61 going into intermission.
Thompson hit 5 of his first seven shots and 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 23 points in the first half on 7-for-12 shooting. He received a standing ovation when he sat down for a break with 4:51 left in the second quarter.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Andrew Wiggins made his first four shots en route to 14 for Golden State, which has won three straight games and 10 of 12.
Draymond Green had seven points, five rebounds and four assists in his first game with Denver this season after missing the previous three — two of which during separate suspensions and the first on Nov. 8 for personal reasons.
Kevon Looney played his 284th consecutive game in both the regular season and playoffs, matching Neil Johnston for the fifth-longest such streak in franchise history.
the next
Nuggets: The host Kings on Wednesday night had lost their previous three meetings this season, including by 29 points to Sacramento on Feb. 9 before being defeated 102-98 in Denver on Feb. 14.
Warriors: At Washington on Tuesday night to begin a four-game East Coast trip.
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