NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic carries Nuggets to overtime road win over Spurs

Nikola Jokic scored 46 points that included the first seven in overtime as the visiting Denver Nuggets rode their superstar to a 122-111 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in the second of back-to-back games on two nights between the teams.

The Spurs won Friday’s opener of the home-and-home 113-110 in Denver. Overall, the Nuggets have won four of their past five games but had to work an extra five minutes to get it done on Saturday.

San Antonio led by 11 points after three quarters, but the Nuggets charged back, going up 108-106 on a Jokic free throw with 1:06 to play. Devin Vassell tipped in a miss of his own layup with 14 seconds left to tie the game, after which Denver called a time out to set up a final shot. Jokic then rimmed out a jumper from the top of the key, sending the game into an extra period.

Jokic capped his definitive overtime run with a putback of his own missed 3-pointer with 2:27 remaining and the Nuggets held on over the final stretch. He also had 10 assists and nine rebounds in the victory.

Michael Porter Jr. added 28 points and 10 rebounds for Denver, with Jamal Murray scoring 13 and Russell Westbrook taking 10 rebounds.

Harrison Barnes led San Antonio with 22 points while Victor Wembanyama scored 20 and grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds. Vassell added 19 points and Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie tallied 10 apiece.

The Nuggets led by eight points in the first quarter before San Antonio culled its deficit to 30-27 after 12 minutes of play.

The Spurs moved into the lead at 38-37 when Tre Jones drove the lane for a layup with 7:29 to play in the period. Vassell’s dunk with 35 seconds left was answered by Westbrook’s jumper 13 seconds later as San Antonio took a 55-54 lead into the break.

Jokic led all scorers with 18 points in the first half while Wembanyama countered with 14 points and 12 rebounds in just 14 minutes of court time before halftime.

San Antonio scored 17 of the first 24 points to open the third quarter. Jones’ layup with 8 seconds to play in the period staked the Spurs to a 92-81 advantage heading into the final period.

Waters III has big finish as Warriors top Grizzlies

Lindy Waters III saved eight of his 16 points for a tight finish and Andrew Wiggins put up a game-high 24 points as the Golden State Warriors outlasted the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 121-113 on Saturday night in San Francisco.

Each team played without its superstar point guard. Memphis was minus Ja Morant for the fourth straight time due to a shoulder injury, while Golden State gave Stephen Curry the night off on the front end of a back-to-back.

Dennis Schroder chipped in 17 points and nine assists, Buddy Hield 14 points, Jonathan Kuminga 13 and Trayce Jackson-Davis 11 with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Warriors.

Jaren Jackson Jr. had 23 points and nine rebounds and Desmond Bane added 22 points and 10 assists for the Grizzlies, who were playing their second game in two nights after losing 138-133 at Sacramento on Friday. Memphis completed a 2-3 road trip.

The Warriors led just 100-96 before a three-point play by Schroder and the first of two 3-pointers by Waters helped extend the advantage to nine with 7:41 to go.

Waters added a long two-pointer almost two minutes later to re-establish a seven-point lead, then delivered the dagger on a 26-footer with 2:08 to play after Memphis had closed within 112-109.

Six Warriors players made three or more 3-pointers as the team went 23-for-43 from deep and outscored the visitors 69-27 on treys. Waters finished 4-for-5 and Hield 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, while Wiggins, Schroder, Kuminga and Draymond Green drilled three apiece.

Wiggins had four of Golden State’s 13 steals.

Jake LaRavia contributed 17 points and 10 assists off the bench for Memphis, while Scotty Pippen Jr. had 12 points and Brandon Clarke 10.

The game also featured the first NBA head-to-head between brothers Cam and Pat Spencer. The Grizzlies’ Cam Spencer, a rookie from UConn, had seven points in 13 minutes, while the Warriors’ Pat Spencer, a star lacrosse player at Loyola (Md.) before a one-year basketball stint at Northwestern, totaled two points in 12 minutes.

Anfernee Simons powers Trail Blazers past Bucks

Anfernee Simons scored 28 points with eight assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 105-102 win on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.

Deni Avdija added 19 points and 14 rebounds for Portland while Shaedon Sharpe scored 16. Deandre Ayton put forth a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 31 points and 11 rebounds. AJ Green added 21 off the bench and Damian Lillard scored 16.

In the first half, Milwaukee struggled to shoot and only got above 40 percent late in the first half, ending at 43.5 percent compared to 48.9 percent for Portland. Portland led 54-51 at the break.

Following similar trends to recent games, it was another sloppy start to the second half for Milwaukee. Portland went on a 12-6 run out of the break to take their biggest lead at 66-57.

However, Milwaukee slowly crawled back in the quarter and with a buzzer-beating layup from Ryan Rollins they led 76-75 going into the fourth.

The Bucks regained the lead in the fourth with five minutes to play when Green hit his seventh 3-pointer, tying his career-high.

A 5-0 run put Portland ahead 98-94, before Lillard hit a step-back jumper to tie the game at 100 with just under two to play.

Then Simons responded. After two free throws from Antetokounmpo, Simons finished a layup through a foul, giving Portland the lead after the free-throw.

Lillard turned it over on the next possession, and after two more free throws from Simon, Lillard missed what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer.

Portland won just their fourth road game of the season. They’ve also now won two in a row over Milwaukee, who lost for the second straight game at home against a team out of the playoff picture.

Clippers get Kawhi Leonard back, crush Hawks

Norman Powell scored 20 points and Ivica Zubac added 18 points to go along with 18 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers celebrated the season debut of Kawhi Leonard with a 131-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday in Inglewood, Calif.

Amir Coffey scored 17 points while Leonard had 12 on 4-of-11 shooting in 19 minutes of court time after missing the first 34 games of the season due to a right knee injury. Terance Mann (finger) also returned to action after missing the past 11 games and scored 12 points in 16 minutes.

Los Angeles took control early, leading by as many as 27 points in the first half before improving to 12-2 at home since Nov. 4.

Trae Young scored 20 points and dished out 14 assists and De’Andre Hunter added 18 points as the Hawks lost for the second consecutive night in the Los Angeles area following a 119-102 setback against the Lakers on Friday.

Garrison Mathews scored 15 points and Zaccharie Risacher added 13 for Atlanta, which lost its third consecutive game.

The Hawks’ Jalen Johnson (shoulder) did not play for the second time in the past three games, while Bogdan Bogdanovic (leg) was out for the sixth time in seven games.

Leonard made his first shot of the season, a 3-pointer from the left wing just over two minutes into the game.

After leading 29-28 through one quarter, the Clippers used a 27-4 run in the second quarter to build a 63-39 advantage. Los Angeles was up 74-54 at halftime after shooting 54.5 percent from the floor while forcing 13 Atlanta turnovers.

The Clippers led 98-76 after three quarters, with Mann scoring his first five points of the game in the third. The Hawks never seriously threatened in the final quarter.

Los Angeles shot 55.2 percent from the floor for the game and had a season-high 36 assists. James Harden had 15 of those helpers to go along with 10 points.

Atlanta shot 43.2 percent overall and finished with 23 turnovers.

Pacers run away from Suns in second half

Tyrese Haliburton scored 27 points to lead six Indiana scorers in double figures and the Pacers bookended the second half with big runs to send the Phoenix Suns to a fourth consecutive loss with a 126-108 victory on Saturday in Indianapolis.

It also marked the Suns’ seventh loss in their past eight games.

Indiana opened the second half with a 19-9 run that lasted just over four minutes and gave the Pacers a lead that they held the rest of the way.

Phoenix stayed within striking distance behind Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but the Suns never got closer than six following the Pacers’ run to open the third quarter. Durant finished with 25 points for the game, while Booker collected 20.

Indiana put the contest to bed with a 13-4 run over the game’s final 4:08. Haliburton hit three of his five 3-pointers on the night during that closing stretch.

The Pacers went 15-for-40 from long distance while Phoenix put together a 12-for-30 showing.

Myles Turner was 7-for-11 shooting from inside the arc en route to 20 points for Indiana. His rim-rattling dunk over Booker, set up by a back cut and an assist from Andrew Nembhard in the third quarter, electrified the home crowd.

Turner joined all four of Indiana’s other starters with at least one 3-pointer, going 2-for-6 from deep.

Nembhard hit both of his attempts from 3-point range and was 3-for-3 from the floor for nine points to go along with seven assists. Bennedict Mathurin added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Pascal Siakam finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Pacers also got double-figure scoring performances from reserves Obi Toppin (12 points) and Ben Sheppard (10).

Phoenix reserves Monte Morris and Grayson Allen scored 12 and 13 points, respectively, with Allen hitting three of his seven 3-point attempts in his return from concussion protocol and left shoulder soreness.

The teams were tied at 56 at the break. Neither led by more than seven in the first 24 minutes of action.