By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Brooklyn Nets withstood a late rally and another triple-double by Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 122-120.
The Serb defending back-to-back MVP 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 five seconds left that would have given the Nuggets the lead.
Mikal Bridges scored 25 points, 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.
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.
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 the Joker 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 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.