TORONTO (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 15 rebounds, Canadian guard Jamal Murray scored 20 points in his only regular season appearance north of the border and the Denver Nuggets beat the Toronto Raptors 113-104 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 12 points and Peyton Watson had 11 as Denver won for the fifth time in six games and evened its road record at 8-8.
Jokic shot 13 for 23 and led the Nuggets with six assists, including a behind-the-back dish to Gordon in the first quarter.
Scottie Barnes had 30 points, two shy of his career-high, and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Pascal Siakam added 18 points for the Raptors.
Toronto came in having won five of seven home meetings with the Nuggets. In their most recent home matchup on March 14, the Raptors used a franchise-record 49-point first quarter to win 125-110, but they couldn’t duplicate that feat Wednesday.
Toronto fell behind by 21 before cutting the gap to five, 96-91, on a 3-pointer by Precious Achiuwa with 6:06 left in the fourth, but that was as close as the Raptors got, as Jokic scored nine points down the stretch.
Up 29-20 after one, Denver scored 10 points off seven Toronto turnovers in the second, stretching its advantage to 61-44 at the half.
Barnes scored 14 of Toronto’s 24 points in the second but the Raptors couldn’t keep pace with the defending NBA champions, even though the Nuggets didn’t shoot a single free throw in the first half.
Jokic had 12 points and seven rebounds in the third as Denver took a 90-75 lead to the final period.
Toronto finished with 26 assists, ending a franchise-record five-game streak with 30 or more assists.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Visit Brooklyn Friday night.
Raptors: Visit Philadelphia on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
