Nikola Jokic scored 37 points, Jamal Murray added 34 and the host Denver Nuggets held off a furious rally in the fourth quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons 134-121 on Saturday night (Sunday, December 29, Manila time).
Michael Porter Jr. contributed 26 points and Christian Braun scored 10 for Denver, which is 6-0 this season in the second game of back-to-backs.
Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey scored 17 points apiece, Malik Beasley added 14, Jalen Duren and Ronald Holland II each finished with 12 and Ausar Thompson notched 10 for Detroit, which went 3-1 on its four-game Western Conference road trip.
The Pistons’ reserves played the entire fourth quarter and trimmed what was once a 25-point deficit to 128-121 on Holland’s 3-pointer with 2:35 left before Jokic scored the final six points of the contest to seal the victory.
Denver led by six at halftime, 67-61, but couldn’t really pull away until about five minutes had gone by in the third quarter. Porter was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three of his ensuing foul shots, then drained a triple before Braun hit two more free throws to make it 89-75 Nuggets.
Thompson cut Detroit’s deficit to 11 with a layup with 4:52 remaining in the third, but Denver controlled the rest of the period. Russell Westbrook drew an offensive foul on Cunningham immediately after he was called for one, sparking the Nuggets.
Over the final 3:10 of the third quarter, Denver put together a monster 20-6 outburst that had the Nuggets heading into the fourth up 114-89.
Jokic hit all four of his 3-point attempts during his 16-point first quarter and scored 19 total points in a back-and-forth first half. Detroit led 54-49 just past the midpoint of the second quarter before the Nuggets rallied.
After the teams ended up in a 58-58 tie, Denver rattled off nine unanswered points. Ivey’s corner 3-pointer with 30.7 seconds left in the first half made it 67-61 at intermission. – Rappler.com
