Nets, Mikal Bridges resist Nikola Jokic’s triple-double to beat Nuggets

DENVER (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets endured a late rally and another triple-double by Nikola Jokić to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120 on Sunday.

Nick Claxton had 20 points and Dorian Finney Smith And Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each for Brooklyn, who have won five of their 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 by 5 seconds that would have given the Nuggets the lead.

Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for Denver, who hit a season-high with their third straight loss.

Eight points down at the break, Brooklyn fought back to take an 80-77 lead over Bridges’ knight midway through the third quarter. The Nets extended their lead to 98-87 going into the fourth quarter Royce O’Neale And JoeHarris connected to consecutive 3 hands in the last 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 widest lead to that point. The Nuggets didn’t go away, however, passing within 116-110 after a three-point game Christian Brown and Jokic’s floater with 4:41 remaining.

Denver came within 121-120 on two free throws from Jokic with 41.6 seconds left and the Nuggets won a challenge with 23.2 seconds left to reverse a foul call on Jokic and gain possession, but Jokic missed then the possible starting signal. The Nuggets fouled Bridges with 1.8 seconds left and he took one of two free throws.

Jokic’s jumper on the buzzer went too short.

Brooklyn opened a 49-39 lead Seth Curry‘s 3-pointer at 7:23 in the second quarter, but the Nuggets ended the period on a 30-12 run to lead 69-61 at halftime. Jokic ignited the excitement, scoring 10 of his points in that span Jamal Murray topped it and pulled up from 33 feet to hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.

TIP INS

Nets: G/F Ben Simmons was sidelined for a 10th straight game with left knee and back pain. “He’s back home in Brooklyn. When we get home after this trip, we’ll have a chance to see where he is,” Coach said Jacques Vaughn called.

The story goes on

Nuggets: F Vlatko Cancar was back in action after missing the last four games with a right wrist sprain. … F Zeke Nnaji, who has been a key part of the team’s rotation for most of the season, has been out since February 7 with a right shoulder sprain. The injury is expected to be reassessed soon to see if he can return before the end of the season. “Obviously we tried not to have surgery and give his shoulder time to heal and get better to see where he’s at,” Coach Michael Malon called. “There’s 14 games left after tonight, so there’s still time in the season.”

NEXT

Nets: Complete a five-game trip in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

Nuggets: In Toronto on Tuesday night, kicking off a five-game journey.