Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds, Aaron Gordon scored 24 points, and the host Denver Nuggets remained unbeaten at home with a 122-112 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 points off the bench, Jamal Murray contributed 14 points, Christian Braun finished with 11 points and Peyton Watson grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for Denver. The Nuggets have won 11 straight regular-season games against Miami.
The Heat played most of Wednesday’s game without center Bam Adebayo. He left late in the first quarter with a left foot injury and didn’t return.
Norman Powell led Miami with 23 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 22, Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 21 points and Kel’el Ware had 13 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
Jokic secured his fifth triple-double of the season with an offensive rebound midway through the third quarter. He now has 169 career triple-doubles during the regular season.
Denver led 59-57 late in the second quarter, closed with a 9-3 run to take a 68-60 run at halftime and started to take control in the third quarter.
Gordon opened the second half with a three-point play, Cam Johnson drained one from deep, Jokic hit two free throws and Braun made layups on consecutive possessions to increase the lead to 80-66.
Miami called a timeout and flipped the momentum when play resumed. Wiggins hit a layup and a 3-pointer and Ware and Davion Mitchell had a bucket each during an 11-2 run that got the Heat within 82-77.
Mitchell finished with 10 points.
The Nuggets responded with 10 straight points and took a 101-86 lead into the final 12 minutes but Miami made another push. Powell’s fourth 3-pointer capped a 10-2 run to make it 108-99 but later in the quarter Hardaway hit one from deep to stretch the advantage to 12, and Denver closed it out.
