Nikola Jokic posted another triple-double and Michael Porter Jr. scored a game-high 31 points for the host Denver Nuggets, who continued surging with a 113-100 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
Jokic finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in his seventh triple-double in the last 15 games and his 22nd of the season for the Nuggets (49-21), who improved to 13-2 since Feb. 22 to move into a virtual tie for first place in the Western Conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder (48-20).
Jamal Murray scored 23 points while Aaron Gordon added 10 points.
Jalen Brunson had 26 points and nine assists for the Knicks (41-28), who had their four-game winning streak snapped as they slipped into fifth place in the Eastern Conference behind the Orlando Magic (42-28), who beat the New Orleans Pelicans 121-106 earlier Thursday.
New York is three games ahead of the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, who are tied for seventh place in the East and the first two seeds in the play-in tournament.
Isaiah Hartenstein scored a career-high 20 points while Alec Burks had 18 points off the bench. Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride added 11 points each.
Each team held a single six-point lead in the first half. The Knicks mounted a 22-10 run spanning the first two quarters to take a 48-42 lead with 5:07 left before the Nuggets ended the second on a 19-8 run. Murray’s 3-pointer with 1:09 left put Denver ahead for good.
The Nuggets outscored the Knicks 27-20 in the third and took their biggest lead at 88-76 on Jokic’s jumper with three seconds left. New York opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run and pulled to 90-88 on Burks’ layup before Denver used its second timeout of the quarter with 8:19 remaining.
Porter and Jokic scored on consecutive trips out of the timeout for the Nuggets, who collected seven straight points to begin a game-ending 23-12 run. The Knicks went 4-for-11 with three turnovers the rest of the way and got within five points just once down the stretch.
–Field Level Media