DENVER, Jan. 18 (BNA): Nikola Jokic has 36 points as part of his triple-double of the season to make up for Damian Lillard’s 44 points, and the Denver Nuggets win their 14th straight home game by leading Portland. Trail Blazers 122-113 Tuesday night.
Jokic, who was 13-of-14 from the floor, finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The Nuggets improved to 13-0 this season when the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player scored three times.
“We are heading in the right direction,” said Jokic. “We are playing with great confidence.”
Nuggets lost head coach Michael Malone, who missed the game after going into league health and safety protocols. Acting head coach David Adelman stepped in, and the Western Conference-leading Nuggets didn’t miss a beat, the Associated Press reported.
In the locker room after the game, the team threw a bucket of cold water at Adelman to celebrate.
“It was cold. No, it was cool,” cracked Adelman, who is the son of longtime NBA coach Rick Adelman. “The men were excited.”
This was a game that sometimes turned into a Jokic vs. Lillard Show. It was Lillard’s 214th game with 30 or more points.
But Jokic proved too difficult to contain.
“You call plays for him and sometimes those plays turn into basketball from a team perspective because of him. He gets the guys involved,” explained Adelman.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 23 points, and Jamaal Murray added 17 for Denver, who improved to 20-3 at home as the crowd held back a blizzard starting to hit the city.
The Trail Blazers dropped their eighth straight game.
Denver led by 13 points in the fourth quarter but saw the Blazers storm into the lead. A Bruce Brown dunk helped set up another lead before the Nuggets pulled away.
After the match, Lillard expressed his frustration with the referee late in the game.
“It’s a lot of things we could have done better, but as time went on I felt like the umpires just decided the game,” said Lillard, who was hit with a technical foul late in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously it’s going to be bumps, it’s going to be a physical game, both teams working hard to win a game. We just started working and it was like everything we did was wrong. That’s exactly what it looked like to me.”
This time, no late plays were needed by Jokic, who scored a last-second 3-point game-winning game against Orlando on Sunday.
Lillard had a big first half with 30 points. It’s no stranger to running an explosive half-half against Denver. He had 32 points in the second half against the Nuggets on December 8.
“He’s an all-time, all-time player,” Adelman said of Lillard. “It’s something.”
Tip-ins
Blazers: F Jerami Grant scored 18 points, C Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 10 rebounds. … Lillard was 14 of 14 from the free throw line.
Nuggets: F. Aaron Gordon scored 11 points. … Denver finished the season series against Portland, 3-1. … was Jokic’s 89th career triple-double.
Chauncey Billups
While in town, Denver native Chauncey Billups and Blazers coach attended a pep rally at his old high school, George Washington, where the basketball stadium is named in his honor. His daughter accompanied him to the event.
“I clearly have some great memories there,” Billups said. “That’s where it all started. That’s where I decided to take this game of basketball very, very seriously and see where it took me. It was fun to come back there and see the court, and see it’s named after me, the logo on the court. It was cool.”
next one
Blazers: Start a six-game home game Thursday against Philadelphia.
Nuggets: Host Minnesota Wednesday night.