Denver’s Nikola Jokic hoists up a shot between Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale, left, and Spencer Dinwiddie late in the second half Sunday in Denver. David Zalubowski/Associated Press
DENVER — Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets withstood a late rally and another triple-double by Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120 on Sunday.
Nic Claxton had 20 points and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each for Brooklyn, which has won five of its last six games.
Jokic had 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season but missed a contested 14-foot jumper with 5 seconds left that would have given the Nuggets the lead.
Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for Denver, which matched a season high with its third consecutive loss.
Trailing by eight points at the break, Brooklyn fought back to take an 80-77 lead on Bridges’ jumper midway through the third quarter. The Nets stretched their advantage to 98-87 going into the fourth quarter as Royce O’Neale and Joe Harris connected on successive 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds of the third period.
Harris hit another 3-pointer to give the Nets a 109-94 advantage with 8:11 left, Brooklyn’s biggest lead to that point. The Nuggets didn’t go away, though, pulling within 116-110 on a three-point play by Christian Braun and Jokic’s floater with 4:41 remaining.
Denver got within 121-120 on a pair of free throws by Jokic with 41.6 seconds remaining and the Nuggets won a challenge with 23.2 seconds left to reverse a foul call on Jokic and gain possession, but Jokic then missed the potential go-ahead shot. The Nuggets fouled Bridges with 1.8 seconds remaining and he made one of two free throws.
Jokic’s jumper at the buzzer fell short.
CAVALIERS 114, HORNETS 108: Darius Garland had 28 points, Donovan Mitchell added 23 and visiting Cleveland overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Charlotte for its fourth win in the last five games.
Evan Mobley added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers.
Terry Rozier had 27 points to lead the Hornets.
76ERS 112, WIZARDS 93: Joel Embiid scored 34 points, James Harden had 18 points and 14 assists and Philadelphia cruised to a wire-to-wire win at home.
Tobias Harris added 11 points and De’Anthony Melton 10 for the 76ers, who have won five in a row to keep pressure on Milwaukee and Boston for the top two seeds in a crowded Eastern Conference.
Washington got a career-high 25 points from Corey Kispert and 13 from Bradley Beal, but dropped its fifth game in its last six.
THUNDER 102, SPURS 90: Jalen Williams scored 21 points and visiting Oklahoma City used a balanced effort on offense without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to beat San Antonio.
Ousmane Dieng had 17 points and Josh Giddey added 17 for the Thunder, who won their second in a row and fifth in six games. Oklahoma City tied Utah for 10th place in the West at 33-35, but the Thunder hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series 2-1.
PELICANS 127, TRAIL BLAZERS 110: Trey Murphy III hit a career-best nine 3-pointers to highlight his career-high 41 points, and New Orleans won at home.
Murphy, who participated in the dunk contest during NBA All-Star weekend last month, also had a couple baskets of the high-flying variety, scoring his final points on a driving, two-handed reverse dunk before checking out of the game for good to a standing ovation.
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