Nikola Jokic kept the Denver Nuggets from blowing another game with a history-making performance on Sunday.
He had 26 points and 22 rebounds, rallying Denver past the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100 after the Nuggets wasted a 17-point lead.
Jokic also had eight assists, becoming the first player to record 25-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and five-plus assists in consecutive games since Charles Barkley in 1988.
Photo: AP
SCROOGE
The Nuggets led by 19 points against the Charlotte Hornets in their previous game at home, and lost just before Christmas. It made for a tough holiday at coach Michael Malone’s house.
“I wasn’t very much fun to be around. I was kind of a scrooge,” he said. “I apologized to my wife, my daughters and my dogs.”
Jokic had 29 points, 21 rebounds and five assists in the Charlotte defeat. For a while on Sunday, it looked as if the Nuggets would give away another one, this time on the road.
CLOSE CALL
Luke Kennard almost made it happen. He came off the bench from foul trouble and hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 19 seconds remaining that got the Clippers to 101-100.
“It was a little bit of an adventure there at the end,” Malone said.
Jokic was trying to catch an inbounds pass when he got fouled by Eric Bledsoe, sending them both crashing into the Clippers’ bench. Jokic made both free throws to extend the Nuggets’ lead to three.
UNDER PRESSURE
Brandon Boston Jr took the Clippers’ final shot under heavy pressure from Davon Reed, but his potential tying three-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer.
Reed just signed a second 10-day contract with Denver.
Boston and Bledsoe led the Clippers with 18 points apiece. Bledsoe had 10 assists. Ivica Zubac had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Clippers were playing without Paul George, who is sidelined for up to a month with an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his right elbow. They lost for the fourth time in five games.
“We’re missing our best closer,” Terance Mann said. “We got to a close game and nearly stole it.”
“We needed this one,” Malone said. “We responded the way we needed to, getting stops, sharing the ball.”
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