The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season.
The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Photo: AFP
Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver, while Jamal Murray, back from a six-game injury absence, played a key role down the stretch and ended with 15 points and seven assists.
The game was tied at 108 with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left, but Murray and Jokic saw the Nuggets home.
Coach David Adelman paid tribute to Murray for the physical effort he put in after a lengthy absence with an ankle injury.
Photo: AFP
“You can tell he was exhausted. He hasn’t played in a long time ... but the harder it gets, the more tired he gets, the better he plays. To watch those guys play the two-man game at the end, I know I’d buy a ticket to watch that,” Adelman said.
The loss left Memphis with a 47-34 record. In the final round of games today they face the Dallas Mavericks — who beat the Toronto Raptors 124-102 and face a play-in game against the Sacramento Kings, 101-100 losers against the LA Clippers.
Elsewhere on Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference as well as the Pacific Division title with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets, who had already assured themselves of second seed in the West.
Photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Images
The result was one of a handful of blowouts.
Luka Doncic scored 39 points in a comfortable victory for the Lakers, who were on track to face the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs as things stood.
Lakers coach J.J Redick and his players have become clear contenders for a deep playoff run and perhaps even a title challenge.
Photo: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images
“I feel like we can win a championship, to be honest with you,” Austin Reaves said after their game. “The reason for that is I know everybody in that locker room believes that.”
The Lakers are to learn their first-round matchup today.
The Warriors, who blew past the Portland Trail Blazers 103-86 on Friday, occupied sixth place in the Western Conference.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who have secured the top seed, convincingly beat the Utah Jazz 145-111, another of the blowouts.
In the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have secured the top seed, rallied for a 108-102 win over No. 3 seeds the New York Knicks. The Knicks secured the third seed when the Indiana Pacers, who sat out all their starters, lost 129-115 to the Orlando Magic.
No. 4 seeds Indiana have home-court advantage against No. 5 seeds the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, while Orlando are to host the eighth-placed Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in an Eastern Conference play-in game.
The Knicks face the sixth-seeded Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs, which are to begin next week. The Pistons on Friday lost 125-119 against the Bucks.
The Boston Celtics, the second seeds, had a 130-94 win over the Charlotte Hornets, another of the lopsided results.
For the Jazz, the Hornets, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Washington Wizards, the season is to end today, which might not be soon enough.
They are all playing out dismal seasons and along with the playoff-bound Rockets, the five combined to make the wrong kind of NBA history, all losing by at least 30 points.
It was the first time that the league saw that many blowouts of that size on the same day.
The games pushed the NBA’s total of games decided by 30 or more points this season to 79 — tying the league mark for such games, set in the 2021-2022 season.
The Pelicans suffered the heaviest regular-season defeat in franchise history as they were crushed 153-104 by the Miami Heat.
However, the victory did nothing to improve Miami’s playoff position. With other results going against them, the Heat were locked into 10th place and are to play the Chicago Bulls — 119-89 winners over the Wizards — in a play-in game on Wednesday.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Timberwolves defeated the Brooklyn Nets 117-91 as Minnesota moved into seventh in the Western Conference, in a cluster of four teams who could all end up with the same record after the regular-season finale — the other three being the Clippers, the Warriors and the Nuggets.
The Timberwolves face the Jazz today, while the Warriors are to play the Clippers.
In the other results on Friday, the Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 124-110 and the Phoenix Suns downed the San Antonio Spurs 117-98.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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