SAN ANTONIO — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and DeMar DeRozan added 25 to help the San Antonio Spurs overcome Nikola Jokic’s 43 points and beat the Denver Nuggets 120-103 on Thursday night, forcing a Game 7 of the opening round series.
Jokic had 27 points in the second half to post the third highest point total this postseason behind the 50 by Portland’s Damian Lillard and the 45 by Golden State’s Kevin Durant. Jokic also finished with 12 rebounds and nine assists to fall an assist shy of his second triple double of the series.
Game 7 is Saturday in Denver, where the Nuggets had the league’s best home record during the regular season. The winner will face Portland.
Jamal Murray added 16 points and Gary Harris had 14 points for the Nuggets.
The Spurs were 4 for 9 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to overcome Jokic’s output.
San Antonio needed the win to continue the series after a listless performance in a 108-90 loss in Denver on Tuesday in which the Nuggets led by as many as 30 points.
KINGS: The team and the NBA began a joint investigation Thursday into allegations that Coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a woman.
The Kings and the league said they will be looking into the accusations from a lawsuit filed earlier in this week in Los Angeles by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant.
Walton’s attorney, Mark Baute, has called the allegations “baseless” and says the coach will prove that in court.
Tennant contends Walton attacked her when he was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, which was from 2014 to 2016.
MERCHANDISE: Though LeBron James didn’t make the playoffs in his first season in Los Angeles, his move to the Lakers paid off in jersey sales.
The NBA announced Thursday that James had the most popular individual jersey during the regular season and that the Lakers sold the most team merchandise. They knocked off Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, who had been the most popular player and team for three consecutive seasons.
The top five players for jersey sales were James and Curry followed by Giannis Antetokounmpo at No. 3, Kyrie Irving at No. 4 and Joel Embiid at No. 5. The top five teams for merchandise sales were the Lakers, Golden State, Boston, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
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