Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets plays against Daniel Gafford #21 of the Washington Wizards in the second half at Capital One Arena on March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images/AFP
Nikola Jokic scored 31 points, picked up 12 rebounds and provided seven assists, and the Denver Nuggets stopped the rally in the fourth inning to leave hosts Washington Wizards with a fourth straight loss in the scoring. decision 118-104 on Wednesday.
Denver (49-24) ended a 5-game trip with a 3-2 win record and maintained the leading speed of the Western Conference. The Nuggets took control in the third quarter with a 16-4 lasting 3:07, turning a four-point shortfall into a snap, eight-point lead.
They just built from there, extending their advantage to 23 points in the opening moments of the fourth half.
Washington (32-41), looking to feed its hopes of qualifying for the Eastern Conference play-ins, fought back to cut the deficit to 10 points by mid-late.
The final gasp was quickly quelled when Nuggets coach Michael Malone tossed Jokic and Jamal Murray onto the field – both of whom he had withdrawn earlier in the inning – and Denver went on to run 9. -2.
Nikola Jokic went to work tonight
31 points
12 times turn it back on
7 assists
75% FGNuggets have W in DC pic.twitter.com/AkkMd60SDr
– NBA (@NBA) March 23, 2023
Murray finished with 17 points, a game-high 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points – 18 of which came from a 6/9 shot from 3-point range – and won seven rebounds.
Porter was ahead of the Nuggets five times by three points taken. Murray shot 3/6 from deep, while Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green each shot 2/3 from outside the arc.
Gordon finished with 12 points and Green scored 11 from the bench.
Denver’s 15 to 32 ratio from long distance made all the difference, as the Wizards shot 44 out of 87 overall from the floor – well ahead of the Nuggets’ 42 to 83 rate – but only 4 out of 26 from outside.
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 25 points when shooting 11/17 from the floor. Deni Avdija added 16 points and 8 rebounds, the highest of his teammates. Washington enters Wednesday’s game, the second leg head-to-head after losing to Orlando on Tuesday, 2.5 games behind Chicago for the East’s final play-in spot.
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