Nikola Jokic had seven of his 40 points in overtime and added 10 rebounds as the visiting Denver Nuggets came back to defeat the Toronto Raptors 127-125 on Monday night.
Christian Braun added 17 points for the Nuggets, who won for the first time in three games. Jamal Murray also scored 17 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Aaron Gordon scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds.
Scottie Barnes had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost their second in a row.
Jakob Poeltl added 16 points and 19 rebounds for the Raptors. Toronto’s RJ Barrett (shoulder) played his first game of the season and scored 20 points. Gradey Dick scored 15 points. Davion Mitchell scored 16 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 15.
The score was tied 114-114 after regulation.
Jokic’s 3-pointer gave Denver a 122-116 lead with 3:47 left in overtime. Jokic’s layup stretched the lead to eight. Mitchell’s 3-pointer cut the lead to three points.
Toronto led 30-29 after one quarter and 62-54 at halftime.
Toronto opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run to lead by 15 points. Denver used a 7-0 surge to trim the margin to eight with 6:08 to play in the third. Denver crept to within five before Toronto took an 84-73 lead with 3:28 to go on Chris Boucher’s 167footer. Denver scored the final six points of the quarter and Toronto led 88-83.
Porter’s 20-foot jumper cut the lead to two with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter.
The Raptors worked the lead up to 10 when Dick hit a 3-pointer with 7:14 left in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets chipped it to six. Barnes made a big block on Braun with 4:33 remaining to keep the lead at nine. Russell Westbrook’s layup cut the margin to two with 24 seconds left. Toronto led by two when Mitchell made one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds to go. Murray tied the game with a reverse layup to force overtime.
–Field Level Media