NIKOLA Jokic scored 35 points as the Denver Nuggets held off the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half to record a 115-112 win over their Western Conference rivals.
Denver rose to second place in the NBA’s Western Conference with a 48-21 record. The Oklahoma City Thunder lead the standings at 47-20, while Minnesota remains in third place at 47-22.
“We threw extra bodies at him,” Denver coach Michael Malone said Wednesday.
“One guy trying to guard Anthony Edwards is a challenge for anyone in the NBA, so we started throwing bodies at him to get the ball out of his hands,” he added.
In other games, Kyrie Irving finished with 28 points, while Luka Doncic bagged his 18th triple double of the season as the Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-107 in the Texas derby.
Dallas improved their record to 40-29 to keep them in seventh place in the Western Conference.
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Doncic finished with 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds to help lead Dallas to its second straight win.
Mavericks coach, Jason Kidd, admitted that his team was forced to fight hard to win even though they were not playing at their best.
“It still counts as a W. Not all wins are pretty. We relied on our defense to help us get this win,” Kidd said.
(AFP/Z-9)
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