DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists, Cam Johnson and Jamal Murray combined for four 3-pointers in the final 2:20, and the Denver Nuggets rallied from 13 down in the fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 135-129 on Friday night.
Murray finished with 31 points two nights after scoring a season-high 53. Jokic had his fourth straight triple-double and 31st of the season to help Denver avoid a costly loss in the tight Western
Conference playoff race.
The Nuggets are in fourth place, a game ahead of Minnesota and a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kyle Filipowski led Utah with 25 points but was scoreless in the fourth quarter when Denver rallied from a 120-107 deficit. Jokic started the comeback with a layup, Tim Hardaway Jr., who finished with 21 points, hit a 3-pointer and two free throws that made it 124-121.
After Ace Bailey made a baseline jumper, Jokic hit a turnaround and Johnson tied it with a 3-pointer. The teams traded threes before Johnson, who had 12 points, put the Nuggets ahead for good with another from deep with 46 seconds left.
After a turnover, Murray sealed with another from behind the arc with 17 seconds left.
Utah, which has lost 26 of its last 29, played without several key players, including Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen,
Denver opened an early 12-point lead but the Jazz rallied in the second quarter to tie it at 62 at halftime.
Utah scored 43 points in the third quarter — 15 off eight Nuggets turnovers — and led by as many as 14 late in the period. The Nuggets rallied to cut it to single digits, capped by Jokic’s 39-footer that bounced on the rim twice before dropping in after the horn.
Jazz: At Phoenix on Saturday night.
Nuggets: Host Golden State on Sunday night.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
