DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 25 points and 15 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 20 points, and the surging Denver Nuggets beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors 116-93 on Sunday night.
Jokic finished two assists shy of his fifth straight triple-double but led Denver to its sixth consecutive win. The Nuggets (48-28) are two games ahead of Minnesota and Houston for fourth in the Western Conference.
Brandin Podziemski and Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 apiece
for Golden State, which continued to be without Stephen Curry.
Curry missed his 25th game in a row with a balky right knee. The Warriors (36-39) have lost 16 of the 25 games with Curry sidelined.
Denver forward Aaron Gordon was out after experiencing calf soreness when he woke up Sunday morning. Gordon has missed 44 games this season with separate hamstring injuries.
The Nuggets then lost Spencer Jones to hamstring tightness in the first half and Cameron Johnson went to the locker room early in the third quarter holding his left ribs.
Johnson returned to the bench with his torso wrapped. Neither played again.
Things became chippy in the second quarter when Denver backup center Zeke Nnaji, pressed into action due to the injuries, got into an altercation with De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II after Murray and LJ Cryer exchanged shoves.
Late in the period Payton was hit with a Flagrant 1 for a hard foul on Peyton Watson.
Golden State went on a 19-2 run in the second quarter to lead by 13 and it was 53-46 at halftime, but the Nuggets rallied. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10 points in third when Denver outscored the Warriors 40-21.
Warriors: Host San Antonio on Tuesday night.
Nuggets: At Utah on Wednesday night.
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