SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brandin Podziemski scored 12 of his 18 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 128-117 on Sunday.
Podziemski shot 7 of 16 and added 15 rebounds and nine assists. Al Horford hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and seven assists as the Warriors ended a two-game losing streak despite being without Stephen Curry (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (sick) and Jimmy Butler (torn right ACL). Draymond Green (back) was also a late scratch.
Moses Moody had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors. DeAnthony Melton added 20 points.
Kelley L Cox/AP
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic keeps the ball in play during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists for Denver. It’s Jokic’s fifth triple-double in seven games, 19th of the season and the 183rd of his career.
Jamal Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who had won three of five. Christian Braun scored 18 and Bruce Brown added 12.
Coming off a 54-point win over Portland on Friday, Denver never led in the first half. The Nuggets made a run in the second half before Golden State closed the game on a 19-8 run.
Jose Carlos Fajardo/AP
Denver Nuggets’ Christian Braun (0) goes up for a basket against Golden State Warriors’ Al Horford (20) in the first quarter of their NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)
Podziemski led the Warriors with a pair of 3s and a put-back during the run. Horford added his sixth 3-pointer and had the Chase Center crowd rocking.
Horford got the Warriors going early with a pair of 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter.
Golden State extended its lead to 76-67 in the second despite Jokic being one assist shy of his triple-double before halftime.
DETROIT — Both teams playing in the Motor City on Tuesday were maneuvering their rosters as the trade deadline loomed — one of them more quietly than the other.
The Pistons were hosting, just a few hours after they sent Jaden Ivey to Chicago in a three-team deal that brought back Kevin Huerter, ex-Nugget Dario Saric and a pick swap. The Nuggets had not completed any trades, but they did have a business decision to make. Spencer Jones embarked on their three-game road trip this week with one game of eligibility remaining on his two-way contract and a back-to-back against two of the East’s best awaiting Denver.
Without him, the Nuggets clawed back from a 20-point deficit to get within two late in the fourth quarter, but the Pistons held on for a 124-121 win at Little Caesar’s Arena. A fortuitous shooter’s bounce for Tobias Harris with 1:46 left stretched Detroit’s lead to 115-110 as Denver struggled to land the comeback’s final punch. Moments later, Peyton Watson was a millisecond late to block a Cade Cunningham layup off the backboard, a play that would’ve given Denver a chance to tie while down three.
“The challenge for us right now is with all the things that are happening — people coming back, the minute restrictions — we have to avoid paying attention to that, and we just have to play,” Adelman said. “And deal with it as we go. We’re going to have some clunky moments. The rotation is different. We tried different things tonight. Just trying to fit people into the minutes that can play.”
“It’s a little bit different for us right now,” Nikola Jokic said, “but I think it’s part of the (league).”
The healthy scratch of Jones was essentially a money-saving tactic for Nuggets ownership. Players on two-way deals can be active for up to 50 NBA games in a regular season. Jones may be on the verge of a promotion that would dispense with that limit if the Nuggets can balance their books with a trade by Thursday afternoon. But their primary goal, to get under the luxury tax, is evident in that they’ve gone through half of the season with an open roster spot. Nothing in a rulebook would’ve prevented them from converting Jones’ contract on Tuesday (or earlier) if they wanted him available for Detroit.
Instead, they were operating without a power forward. Aaron Gordon is also sidelined as he recovers from a hamstring strain. Adelman rolled out Braun, Peyton Watson and Jalen Pickett in the starting unit alongside his two stars, foreshadowing a night of finagling. He tried everything from four-guard lineups to a jumbo package.
“I am feeling it out, man. Like, I’m feeling it out every game,” Adelman said. “We walk through stuff in a hotel room, and I pre-suppose lineups and put them out there in their sandals. And then we go play. Then you have to react during the game. And that’s part of the NBA, so there’s no excuses there, either. It’s just, I was trying to find a group that had some rhythm. We found a couple, but the end of the first half just killed us.”
The Pistons (37-12) swept the season series and got under Denver’s skin in the process. Their frontcourt played its usual chippy style, and Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas caused a brief skirmish in the first quarter by putting Isaiah Stewart in a headlock under the basket. Newly minted Pistons All-Star Jalen Duren exchanged shoves with Valanciunas. Both received technical fouls. Valanciunas also picked up a flagrant for the play on Stewart.
By halftime, both head coaches and Pistons guard Duncan Robinson had been handed technicals as well. Jamal Murray and Stewart jawed back and forth a couple of times. Cade Cunningham got into foul trouble in the third frame but also earned 11 free throws himself — a stat that agitated Adelman after the game in contrast to Jokic’s three. In search of a bigger power forward, the first-year head coach started playing Jokic at the four in a double-big lineup with Valanciunas to match Detroit’s size and physicality.
Both centers started the fourth quarter after Denver had trimmed a 20-point deficit back to 13. Julian Strawther chipped in as the rally intensified, lending support on the glass and pushing the pace.
“He was playing aggressive and trying to force the issue a little bit,” Murray. “It was good to see him just get a flow.”
The Nuggets couldn’t buy a bucket early. They missed their first seven 3s while falling behind by double digits and shot 31.8% from the field in the first half. But they were able to linger despite a “weird energy” that Adelman wasn’t pleased with, until a disastrous two-minute stretch to end the half. Three consecutive turnovers — two by Jokic — fueled a 10-0 Pistons run that pushed the lead to 69-50. Detroit scored 26 fast break points on the night, a “ridiculous” number, Adelman said.
“They’re handsy,” said Jokic, who was visibly frustrated by non-calls throughout the night. “They have some really good personnel. … I think the second half was much better for us.
“We had, I’m gonna say, like a good half of basketball.”
Jokic played 33 minutes, another gradual increase in his third game back from a left knee injury. He went for 24 points and 15 rebounds, but he also turned it over five times. Braun logged 25 minutes in just his 15th game of the season, which has been defined by the severe ankle sprain he suffered in November when it was stepped on by James Harden (who was traded to Cleveland during the second quarter of Denver’s game Tuesday).
The Nuggets’ back-to-back Wednesday at Madison Square Garden will test their resilience. They haven’t lost three consecutive games all season, but this is one of the toughest portions of their schedule: the Thunder, Pistons and Knicks in three cities across four days.
“We need to find ways before the break to win some games,” Adelman said. “We’re in a crazy race in the West. I heard a bunch of stuff changed tonight with the trades and all the things that went on. So the race is beginning. You can’t wait for the All-Star break to happen and then join the race. We’ve gone through a lot, but so what?”
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets will be without forward Aaron Gordon for at least a month after he reinjured his right hamstring last week at Milwaukee.
The team said Thursday before hosting Brooklyn that Gordon will be evaluated again in 4 to 6 weeks. Gordon is averaging 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds this season.
Gordon missed 19 games earlier this season with a strained hamstring. The Nuggets also are without center Nikola Jokic (left knee), forward Cameron Johnson (right knee) and forward Christian Braun (left ankle).
The 30-year-old Gordon was acquired by Denver in a trade with Orlando in March 2021. He was an integral piece when the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA title.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas will return from a right calf strain and play in Denver’s game Thursday against the Wizards.
Valanciunas, 33, missed 11 games. Starting center Nikola Jokic remains out with a left knee injury, but he traveled with the team for the start of its three-game road trip and went through a pregame shooting routine in Washington with a sleeve over his left leg.
While the Nuggets wait for Jokic to return, Valanciunas will play limited minutes.
“(He helps us) impacting the paint — the offensive rebounding, able to wall up at the rim defensively,” coach David Adelman said. “Allows us to get back to, defensively, what we’ve been doing early in the year as opposed to lately with all these guys out. So it’ll be great to have him back. … Another body is such a big deal for us right now with the guys being worn down a little bit.”
Injured wings Cam Johnson and Christian Braun also traveled with the team.
The short-handed Nuggets’ silver linings playbook: hang around, drill some timely 3-pointers and control the glass — even without a true center in the paint.
It worked for three quarters Friday night, but the Nuggets, playing at home for the first time since Christmas Day, simply didn’t have enough talent on the floor to hold off Atlanta.
The Hawks, taking advantage of 19 Denver turnovers on the night, used a fourth-quarter surge to run away with an 110-87 victory.
It was Atlanta’s first win in Denver since 2019.
An eight-point surge, sparked by 3-pointers by Tim Hardaway Jr. and Hunter Tyson, gave the Nuggets a 75-71 lead late in the third quarter, and the fans were blowing the lid off Ball Arena. But Onyeka Okongwu canned a 27-foot, 3-point, momentum-changing jumpshot to cut Denver’s lead to 75-74.
That was the beginning of the end. Atlanta outscored the Nuggets 36-12 in the final 12 minutes. Plus, the Nuggets’ scrappiness from earlier in the game evaporated, in part because they are a tired team after a long, seven-game road trip.
“I saw a really, really tired group,” coach David Adelman said. “That’s going to happen in the NBA, (coming back) from a seven-game road trip. They gave it everything they had in the third quarter to get back into it. But it does happen in the NBA. We know that. No excuses, ‘Blah, blah, blah,’ but it does happen.”
The Nuggets trotted out the unlikely starting lineup of Hunter Tyson, Peyton Watson, DaRon Holmes II, Christian Braun and Jalen Pickett. Guard Jamal Murray, who racked up 33 assists in Denver’s two gutsy wins to end their East Coast road trip, was given the night off while dealing with illness and an ankle injury. An injury bug has been running through the Nuggets’ locker room for about three weeks.
Star center Nikola Jokic was in attendance, dressed nattily in a grey suit. But Jokic, out since Dec. 29 with a hyperextended knee and bone bruise, could only cheer from the bench. The Nuggets don’t want to rush him back, but a return before the end of January hasn’t been ruled out.
Watson led the Nuggets with 25 points and 11 rebounds over 34 minutes. He shot 9 of 19 from the floor. But that wasn’t enough to overcome a rash of turnovers. Watson said “absolutely” when asked if being forced to work with a makeshift lineup contributed to the slew of turnovers.
Before the game, Adelman said, “We have to get shots up to the rim. You don’t have to shoot it well. But it allows you to get back and set your defense.”
That didn’t happen often enough and was a major reason why Denver got blown out.
The Nuggets’ hot shooting kept them in the game early. They shot 61.1% (11 for 18) in the first quarter, including shooting 5 of 9 from behind the 3-point line. The highlight was Hardaway’s four-point play with 4 minutes, 25 seconds left in the quarter. Hardaway drained a falling-away 3-pointer, was fouled by Vit Krejci, and sank the free throw to give Denver an 18-17 lead.
Atlanta figured to blow out the road-weary Nuggets, but led just 30-28 after one quarter. The Hawks stretched their lead to 58-50 at the half, even though Denver dominated on the glass and gave up just one offensive rebound.
What killed Denver in the first half was sloppy ball handling. It turned the ball over 12 times, leading to 13 Atlanta points. By the end of the night, the Hawks converted Denver’s 19 total turnovers into 18 points.
BOSTON — Finishing their seven-game road trip with a losing record wasn’t what the Nuggets had in mind, but under the circumstances, they’ll happily take 3-4.
Less undermanned than they were in Philadelphia but still fending without a traditional center, the Nuggets completed their Eastern Conference marathon with a 114-110 win over the Celtics on Wednesday.
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, wrestles for the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jordan Walsh, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Jamal Murray went for 22 points, 17 assists and only two turnovers. Peyton Watson led the team in scoring with 30 points on a 6-for-7 night from 3-point range. Jalen Pickett and Zeke Nnaji earned another opportunity to play in David Adelman’s closing lineup, fresh off their heroic performances Monday at Philly.
And Denver assembled a 14-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter for the second straight game, putting away the East’s second-place Celtics (23-13). All three teams the Nuggets (25-12) defeated on their road trip are top-five seeds in the conference.
Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 33, but on 29 shot attempts against a variety of coverages. Boston kept pressing and fouling in the last minute, shaving an 11-point deficit to three before Murray clinched the game with a late free throw.
A road trip that seemed doomed after a loss to the Nets on Sunday ended with two straight surprising wins.
After entering halftime tied at 58 for the second consecutive game, offense dried up for the Nuggets in the third quarter. They missed 11 straight shots during a six-minute scoreless stint and fell behind, 72-63. Then Murray buried a 3-pointer out of a timeout and found Tim Hardaway Jr. for another in transition the next possession. Suddenly, it was a one-score game again, and Denver was on its way to a 13-2 run.
Anfernee Simons was the Celtics’ antidote. He hit a couple of 3s while Brown was on the bench to take them into the fourth with an 82-79 lead and Denver’s non-Murray minutes looming.
Pickett, scoreless in the first three stanzas, helped weather the storm with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from Aaron Gordon and a floater in the pick-and-roll. Murray came in for Hardaway after only a four-minute rest.
The longer the game wore on, the more the Nuggets felt their size disadvantage on the glass. Celtics center Neemias Queta secured 20 rebounds, eight of them in the first three minutes and change of the fourth. Boston compiled 27 second-chance points and won the rebounding battle by eight.
Like they did in Brooklyn, the Nuggets used Aaron Gordon off the bench in a sub pattern conducive to his minutes restriction that enabled him to be on the court when Murray wasn’t. Gordon said after his return from a hamstring injury that he felt a step slow on defense, and that was the case again on a few possessions in Boston. Still, he left an imprint with 12 points and six rebounds. He played 23 minutes, staying in the same range as last Sunday.
Spencer Jones, who started in Gordon’s usual spot at power forward, was “extremely sick” coming into the game and ended up exiting it early because of left foot soreness, according to the team.
Nnaji shouldered the majority of the backup center minutes again after his 21-point, eight-rebound performance in Philadelphia. It’s been a position where he has struggled in recent years, especially relative to the production of Denver’s lineups when he has played the four. But David Adelman hasn’t had any other choice but to use Nnaji at center recently, and he delivered again with clutch buckets in the fourth quarter and solid defense throughout the night, both in pick-and-roll help against Brown and in rim protection.
Christian Braun also closed the game for Adelman in his second game back. He and Gordon both sat out the second leg of Denver’s back-to-back in Philadelphia, staying on the same schedule in their respective returns from injuries. Braun (ankle) was frustrated at himself a couple of times throughout the night when he missed transition layups, but he came up huge with a corner 3-ball in front of the Nuggets’ bench during their fourth-quarter run, stretching the lead to five.
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets’ injury woes continued Thursday with news that backup center Jonas Valanciunas will miss at least a month with a strained right calf he suffered in his first start in place of injured superstar Nikola Jokic.
Valanciunas joins four starters who are sidelined. Jokic got hurt in Miami on Monday night and an MRI the following day revealed a hyperextended left knee, sideling him at least a month.
Before than, forward Cameron Johnson hyperextended his right knee in a game at Dallas, joining Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle) on the sideline.
Gordon and Braun are close to returning.
The Nuggets are 23-10 and in third place in the Western Conference standings.
MIAMI (AP) — Nikola Jokic is only going to miss a few weeks, which is surely cause for the Denver Nuggets to take a giant sigh of relief.
The Nuggets’ superstar center has been diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, the team said Tuesday, adding that the three-time MVP will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
It’s an obvious blow to the already short-handed Nuggets — but is not a season-ending issue nor one that would require surgical repair. If Jokic misses a month, that means he would be sidelined for about 16 games but could be playing again before February’s NBA All-Star Game.
The 6-foot-11 Jokic — considered by many to be the best player in the world right now — got hurt with about three seconds left in the first half of Denver’s 147-123 loss in Miami on Monday night.
Jokic entered Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this season at 29.6 points per game, plus leads the league with averages of 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists per contest. The only other player in NBA history to average at least 12 rebounds and 11 assists over a full season was Oscar Robertson for the Cincinnati Royals in 1961-62.
“Obviously, it’s part of the game,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said Monday night after the game — speaking before the team got the word on the severity of Jokic’s injury. “But we never want to see it happen. … Next man up. We’ve got to focus on what’s in here.”
Denver has five games left on a seven-game road trip, one that resumes Wednesday when the Nuggets visit the Toronto Raptors.
Jokic was alone under the basket and appeared to step forward to help Denver’s Spencer Jones defend a drive by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about to expire in the second quarter. While backtracking, Jones stepped on Jokic’s left foot and it seemed the center’s knee buckled a bit.
Jokic collapsed to the court, grabbing at the knee. He was helped to his feet, then made his way to the locker room under his own power but with a pronounced limp.
Denver has been playing without three would-be starters in Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson. Even after dropping four of their last six games the Nuggets are still currently No. 3 in the Western Conference at 22-10, with Jokic having played in all 32 of those games.
That’s about to change, obviously. Denver is 13-23 over the last five seasons when Jokic isn’t in the lineup, and any slippage in the coming weeks would be damaging to the Nuggets’ playoff positioning. The Nuggets entered Tuesday only three games ahead of Phoenix, which is currently seventh in the conference.
“You just have to stay with it as a team and as a group,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Monday night. “And honestly, you have to stay with it as a team and a group because that’s how you best support your teammates that are out — by honoring them when you play. So, we’ll move on from there. This is part of the NBA.”
The injury interrupts what might be Jokic’s best season of his career. Not only is he leading the league in rebounds and assists, but he’s shooting a career-best 43.5% from 3-point range and tops the NBA with a true shooting percentage — a formula that accounts for 3-pointers and free throws — of just over 71%.
“It’s like a quest for efficiency and consistency, and I think that’s whether he admits it or not, he sees it as a craft,” Adelman said before Monday’s game, a couple of hours before the injury happened. “He’s trying to look at it as something, ‘What can I get better over the year at?’ And I think it’s been really impressive to watch him over these years, not be satisfied with it, and attack new journeys.”
As two Nuggets starters inch closer to a return, another will replace them in street clothes on the sideline.
Cam Johnson is expected to miss at least four to six weeks after hyperextending his right knee Tuesday in Dallas, the team announced before hosting Minnesota on Christmas. Johnson underwent an MRI that revealed a bone bruise on Wednesday — a best-case outcome after a painful landing that could’ve resulted in structural ligament damage.
Still, after another day of assessing the severity of the injury, Denver determined Johnson will be its third starter to miss a stretch of four or more weeks this season. Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle) have not played in December, with coach David Adelman eyeing an upcoming seven-game road trip as the earliest opportunity for one or both to return from injuries.
Johnson, 29, is averaging 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in his first season as a Nugget. Denver traded Michael Porter Jr. and a future first-round pick for him in June. He started the season in a nasty slump but turned a corner around mid-November, helping the Nuggets to an 10-5 record in games without Gordon and Braun.
In his last 17 games — including Tuesday’s loss in Dallas when he suffered the injury — Johnson was averaging 14.6 points on 52.3% shooting from beyond the arc. He started staggering with Denver’s bench unit more frequently as Adelman tried to navigate the ailing health of his rotation, a tweak that allowed Johnson to grow comfortable by playing with the ball in his hands more.
In the starting lineup, Johnson has been a spacing threat and dangerous off-ball movement shooter next to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
Perhaps the biggest looming area of concern regarding Johnson when the Nuggets traded for him was his injury history, which includes a surgery on a right knee in 2022 to repair an injured meniscus. He missed 89 combined regular-season games over the last three years with Brooklyn and Phoenix.
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets got good news Wednesday when an MRI revealed that forward Cameron Johnson suffered only a bone bruise to his right knee and not any ligament or structural damage, according to a person familiar with the medical test results.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team didn’t announce the results of Johnson’s MRI.
There isn’t a timetable for his return but Johnson is expected to miss a few games. He’s the third Nuggets starter sidelined by injury, joining Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle).
The Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas night.
For his latest trick, Nikola Jokic dribbled into oncoming traffic and escaped unscathed.
Sometimes after he reels in a defensive rebound, the Nuggets center prefers to launch an aerial attack with one of his long outlet passes. This time, he brought the ball with him up on his usual route up the middle of the floor. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. trailed him by a step. Up ahead, Tyus Jones veered into his lane from the left, sensing an opportunity to pick the pocket of a lumbering big man.
But Jokic is nimble. Before Jones could cut across his front side, he anticipated the attempted swipe and transferred his dribbling hand with a behind-the-back move that shouldn’t have looked so graceful. Jones whiffed. Carter caught up, but Jokic decelerated to allow him to pass. Then the newly minted best passing center of all time went behind the back again — this time, a dime to Jamal Murray, who finished the play with a lefty floater.
Denver’s stars were just showing off at that point in the third quarter of a 126-115 win over the Magic that wasn’t always so smooth-sailing.
DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets passes behind his back as Tyus Jones (2) of the Orlando Magic watches during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
It was a monumental night. At 30 years old and 302 days, Jokic passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Thursday for the most assists by a center in NBA history. Coming into the game, all he needed was six to match Abdul-Jabbar’s career total of 5,660. He finished the evening with 13, highlighting a 23-point, 11-rebound triple-double.
“For those of us that love the history of the game, that one should be wrote about and talked about, and that should be a national story,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Because that’s passing a guy that you could argue — if you just want to go by generations and not, ‘Who’s the best player of all time?’ and all the talk-talk stuff — Kareem is in the conversation. Look at his MVPs. Look at the winning. And our guy tonight from Denver just passed him in a category.”
“This is a time that I can be able to look back and appreciate all the years I’ve had to play this game with him,” Murray said. “It’s special. Passing Kareem in anything is pretty cool. So I think it just speaks to his greatness and how unselfish he is.”
Jokic has also passed other Hall of Famers including Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson on the all-time list this season, now ranking 50th overall in career assists. Next up for him to catch is another legendary passer, Larry Bird. Jokic is 28 away from tying him.
“I always say the assist makes two people happy (instead of one). My coach ‘Deki,’ he always said that,” Jokic said Thursday, paying homage to the late Golden State Warriors and Mega Basket coach Dejan Milojevic.
“Maybe it’s not a splashy pass or whatever,” the three-time MVP continued, “but I think when you make the right play, you’re going to feel good about yourself.”
Adelman was especially adamant about the historical significance of the occasion. He gave Jokic the game ball in Denver’s locker room after the win.
“It’s such a cool thing, because it’s Kareem, who was passed by LeBron (James) as the all-time leading scorer, which puts in perspective who Nikola passed,” Adelman said. “So it’s a celebration of both people. It’s somebody that completely changed the game. The sky hook. The longevity. … I feel like in the modern era, we talk about Tom Brady and all these people. But go look at Kareem. The guy changed his name while he played. The guy plays 20-plus years and, until the very end, was impactful on teams that went to the Finals. So for Nikola to pass him, I think, says a lot. And if we’re going to celebrate what LeBron did, (we should celebrate this also). And I know it’s a different kind of thing because it’s a center, it’s a position. I’ll just keep saying it. Just don’t get tired of this, because it’s unique.”
Jokic is also closing in on Oscar Robertson for second all-time in triple-doubles. Thursday was his 177th, bringing him within four of the iconic guard. He became the first center in league history to average a triple-double last season, and he’s on pace to do so again this year with 29.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game.
Orlando called a timeout after Jokic and Murray combined for that saucy transition bucket in the third quarter. As they sauntered to the huddle, Nuggets assistant coaches Ognjen Stojakovic and JJ Barea could only laugh at the duo’s skill and panache.
DENVER , CO – DECEMBER 18: Assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic laughs as the Orlando Magic take a timeout during the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 126-115 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, December 18, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“That’s how kind of we made our staple in that second unit growing up, was just the give-and-go,” Murray said of Jokic’s passing. “… A lot of give-and-go, and you could see his court vision and his fluidity.”
The Nuggets did most of their work Thursday during an astonishing second quarter. They flipped a 47-33 deficit with a 35-7 run that only took the last 6:26 of the first half. Murray scored 20 of his 32 points in the frame. Reserve point guard Jalen Pickett ignited the comeback and was a plus-26 in eight minutes of playing time that quarter.
Both teams were short-handed at Ball Arena. Orlando was fending without Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Denver was down three of its best defenders with Peyton Watson (right trunk contusion) ruled out shortly before tip, joining Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon on the shelf.
In Watson’s place, Bruce Brown started his first game as a Denver Nugget since April 9, 2023. David Adelman used 10 of his 11 available players, including Julian Strawther, who was cleared to play earlier this week after missing a month with a back injury.
Orlando mounted mini-comebacks throughout the second half, eventually narrowing a 21-point gap to 121-115 with 90 seconds to go.
Moments earlier during a Nuggets timeout, Ball Arena had displayed a graphic commemorating Jokic’s all-time assists achievement. The crowd greeted him with a round of applause as he returned to the court. Then he treated Denver to one more beauty of an assist, passing out of a double-team with a missile across the court to Cam Johnson in the backside corner. His open 3-pointer sealed the win.
“It’s a celebration of our guy, of a Denver Nugget, and it’s a celebration of NBA history, all in the same place,” Adelman said. “And we all got to be there to see it.”
To screen or not to screen is not a question in Denver.
To roll and perchance to score, now there’s the appeal.
First-year coach David Adelman doesn’t deal lightly in superlatives, so it was notable when he recently described Denver’s roster as “the best Nuggets screening team we’ve had in a long time.”
But he and one of his most prolific screeners did have an amusing difference of opinion about the nature of setting a good screen — the implication of it.
“Guys (are) giving themselves up. … Making the effort to get a hit for somebody else to allow them to have success,” Adelman raved last week. “Sometimes the assist total, 30, is great. But you look back and you look at the screen-assist numbers and what creates offense behind that, it’s an unselfish thing that guys in the NBA don’t all want to do.”
Adelman listed names, crediting almost half of Denver’s roster for contributing: Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Spencer Jones. Centers Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas. The biggest bodies, obviously, are often the heftiest screeners.
“Our team, for whatever reason this year,” Adelman said, “has been very successful at doing it.”
Valanciunas has a reason.
“You know, setting a good screen is selfish,” he said. “Because you’re gonna be open. I’m a selfish guy. Setting good screens.”
Disclaimer: At least half of what the Lithuanian big man says is tongue-in-cheek to some extent, and he even laughed at his own comment in this case.
But the humor in his voice didn’t take away from the sliver of truth to his words. Adelman agreed on Monday night before the Nuggets hosted the Houston Rockets.
“I think it was (Hall of Famer) Chris Mullin that said, ‘I want to be the best screener on the team because I want to shoot the most shots.’ It makes a lot of sense,” Adelman said. “If you (set a) rip screen correctly and you cause confusion, you get to shoot. If you’re a big that sets screens, you create the pocket. The ball finds you (in the pick-and-roll).
“Same thing with a guy like Jamal (Murray). If you set a flare screen, a lot of times, two (defenders) are gonna go with him. And that means you’re the guy that benefits. Peyton gets dunks every other game that way. So yeah, there is something to that.”
The Nuggets have long been particularly adept at using their guards as screeners. Christian Braun, who didn’t make the list of shoutouts from Adelman in his initial comment, has mastered the art of when and how to release from a screen. He often reads the defense and slips to the basket for easy layups and dunks, courtesy of assists from a distributor like Jokic, Murray or Aaron Gordon.
Hardaway has frequently benefited from being the “weakest” link in three-man actions with Jokic and Murray, stepping out to the 3-point line after setting a screen and launching open shots when the defense fixates on Denver’s stars.
The team’s primary form of offense, the split action, involves two non-centers converging then splitting apart with one screening for the other. Late in close games, Murray and Jokic tend to revert to their reliable two-man game for buckets, with Murray snaking around his center.
Other times, the Nuggets will run pick-and-rolls with two bigs, deploying Jokic as the screener or the ball-handler alongside Gordon. They even tried a pick-and-roll recently with Valanciunas setting the screen for Jokic, a uniquely adept center at initiating facilitating offense.
As Valanciunas walked away after his half-joke to reporters, he shrugged and mimed a pick-and-roll motion, receiving the imaginary ball and scoring a layup.
“Funny that he said that, because everything he says is funny,” Adelman said. “But it’s true. It’s selfish and unselfish at the same time. And great scorers in our league are guys that can really screen off the ball. It’s been like that forever.”
DENVER (AP) — Devin Vassell scored a season-high 33 points on the strength of 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range and the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the NBA Cup quarterfinals with a 139-136 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Julian Champagnie added a season-best 25 points to help the Spurs roar back from an 18-point third-quarter deficit and hand the Nuggets, winners of six straight on the road, their third consecutive defeat at home.
The Spurs made 30 of 32 free throws and scored 30 points off 17 Nuggets turnovers.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 37 points, Cam Johnson added 28 and Nikola Jokic 21. Murray became the fifth player in franchise history to top 10,000 points for his career.
Jokic flashed another jaw-dropping, behind-the-back assist, this one to Spencer Jones for second-quarter basket as Denver built a 74-59 halftime lead.
Both teams were short-handed with Spurs star Victor Wembanyama (calf) and Stephon Castle (hip) out and the Nuggets missing starters Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle).
Without Wembanyama, the Spurs relied on their outside shooting and eight players hit at least one 3-pointer.
David Zalubowski/AP
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell, left, drives the lane past Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson in the first half of an NBA Cup basketball gam,e Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Nuggets used a 23-6 blitz to end the first half with a 15-point lead, and a quick 3-pointer by Murray to open the third quarter boosted Denver’s cushion to 18 points, but San Antonio owned the quarter and only trailed 104-103 heading into the fourth.
Murray hit three quick buckets in the opening minutes to become the fifth player in franchise history to top 10,000 career points, joining Alex English, Jokic, Dan Issel and Carmelo Anthony.
Up next Spurs: At Minnesota on Sunday night.
Nuggets: At Phoenix on Saturday night. Both teams are traveling for the second night of a back-to-back as the Suns lost at Oklahoma City on Friday night.
That shadow over the court was Aaron Gordon’s. Suddenly, the Nuggets felt his absence as painfully as their opponents usually feel his presence.
He would have been perfect for a crunch-time possession late Saturday night and the unenviable task of guarding DeMar DeRozan with a game on the line.
David Adelman instead asked for one stop from Spencer Jones, the eager 24-year-old wing who has prospered as a defensive specialist on a two-way contract.
He had started the game in place of the injured Gordon as well, but this was a step up in stakes. The Nuggets trailed 123-120 after a successful two-for-one bucket with 29 seconds to go, allowing them to play out a defensive possession instead of fouling. They had no margin for error, but they had a chance.
Jones does have one glaring flaw in his defensive game: He’s foul-prone. And against a savvy veteran scorer like DeRozan, discipline with hand placement is especially vital. Jones didn’t pass the assignment this time. He reached into the cookie jar, and DeRozan immediately drew the contact while burying an improbable midrange jumper. Ballgame.
Gordon and the Nuggets are seeking second opinions on the severity of his right hamstring strain before determining how much time he’ll miss, Adelman said Saturday, 24 hours after Gordon slipped on a drive to the basket in Houston and then gingerly walked off the court. The injury could result in another prolonged absence for a Nuggets starter, with Christian Braun already on the shelf for the next five weeks.
“We’re trying to make sure we get the correct answer to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Adelman said. “… Obviously, that was concerning last night with Aaron.”
And Jones was a major variable in the defensive equation of replacing Gordon during Denver’s back-to-back this weekend. He was impressive in Houston, matching up on a full range of players from Reed Sheppard to Alperen Sengun.
On Saturday, he was a minus-18.
“I’m concerned about anybody guarding DeRozan,” Adelman said when asked whether he was concerned about the foul potential of the Jones matchup. “He’ll learn from that. He got his hand in there. That’s what DeMar does. He’s always been an artist with that. He’s one of the best scorers in the modern era. A lot of it is because of that, and of course, it comes at a really key time. So Spence will learn from it. I have nothing but full confidence in him.”
Baptism by fire is the only way sometimes, in Adelman’s view. After spending weeks lauding his team’s depth, the injury bug is forcing him to use it even more.
“We’re going through this process with a couple of guys out, really three guys out,” he said, referring also to Julian Strawther’s recent back pain that has kept him inactive the last four games. “So we want to see what each guy can do. We played Jalen (Pickett) a little bit. We started him (against Indiana). Zeke started in New Orleans. We wanted to give Hunter a little bit of run.
“As we go through this time, if guys are out — and some are, as you know — we’ll try different lineups to see what we can do. … I can’t play an eight-and-a-half man rotation every night. So I’ll get creative with it as best I can.”
Denver’s three healthy starters showed out on the second night of the back-to-back. Nikola Jokic amassed 44 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Jamal Murray continued to be a steady source of offense, with 23 points and nine assists to just one turnover. Cam Johnson continued to do all the little things that prompted Adelman to defend him when he was slumping — and also went for his first 20-point game as a Nugget.
But with Peyton Watson and Jones slotted in as starters, the bench got outscored 48-20. In a home loss to the Bulls last Monday, the margin was an even uglier 66-9. That happened with Gordon in the lineup.
“I think 12-4, it’s not the real picture. I think we are not that good,” Jokic said Saturday, laying it on perhaps a little too thick. “I think we need to be much better if we want to do something big. Yes, we’ve played better. We look better. But I think we need to consistently, every night, every possession.”
“Those guys are really important to what we do. They’re very talented players, CB and AG,” Johnson added. “Very gritty guys. Contribute a lot to the game. But it’s part of the league, you know? It’s part of the game. Eighty-two games is a long season. Sometimes, things happen. I think we have the depth that we can (trust the) next man up and rally and find ways to maximize the guys available on the floor.”
If Gordon sits out an extended period that corresponds with Braun’s recovery, getting stops will be Denver’s biggest bugaboo. The team’s defensive rating when those two players share the floor is an elite 109.5 in 241 minutes. It’s 118.9 when they’re both off the floor. The Kings turned the ball over only six times on Saturday. Russell Westbrook scored 15 fourth-quarter points to fuel their win, which snapped an eight-game skid.
Not having Braun meant one more matchup adjustment that wasn’t available to Adelman as Westbrook heated up.
Then there was DeRozan, getting the best of Jones, who has done an admirable job this season but could continue to face heightened challenges if Gordon is out for a while.
“They’re both, of course, really good defensive players for us,” Jokic said. “And I think we miss CB in all the split action. … He’s setting flares or rip screens for the guys, and always finding the right spot to be and getting us easy points, getting us to the rim. AG, especially when we play against smaller lineups, he’s a really good low-post player. … He’s just putting a lot of pressure on the defense, and offense.”
NEW ORLEANS — Life was detected in the most cavernous building in the NBA for a few minutes on Wednesday, as the Pelicans flew to an early 13-point lead over their lethargic visitors.
Life was briefly detected again toward the end of the proceedings, when the Pelicans sliced a 19-point deficit to six after Nikola Jokic fouled out. There might have even been noise from the uninhabited upper deck.
But the Nuggets escaped Smoothie King Center in the end with a 125-118 win, buoyed by a mostly solid night of defense and Peyton Watson’s career-high 32 points.
In his second game starting for Christian Braun, Watson finished with a 13-for-19 double-double. Jokic added 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on another night with two starters missing.
And Denver (11-3) finished the game with a frontcourt of Zeke Nnaji and Jonas Valanciunas after Jokic’s disqualification. Valanciunas knocked down a pair of clutch 15-footers to fend off a late comeback from the Pelicans (2-13).
From the start, this was a game layered with more intrigue than the records indicated. Zion Williamson, the Pelicans’ explosive but aloof star forward, was cleared to play after missing the last eight games. Denver’s Aaron Gordon was a last-minute scratch from the lineup for hamstring injury management, which sidelined him for one other game earlier this season.
These developments were related. Gordon has been described by Nuggets coach David Adelman as one of “only a few human beings walking around that can deal with Zion Williamson.” Adelman mirrored their minutes when the Pelicans visited Denver three weeks ago, determined to force Williamson to play against that matchup.
Without Gordon, Nnaji was enlisted as the starting power forward. He had been out of the rotation entirely to start the season.
The idea had a sound precedent, though. Gordon was out when the Nuggets hosted New Orleans in February, and former coach Michael Malone also started Nnaji for the occasion. Williamson scored an inefficient 14 points on 13 shots that day, as Trey Murphy III had to shoulder more of the Pelicans’ offensive burden. As a team, they went 4 for 11 on shots defended by Nnaji.
This time, even with two rim protectors on the floor in Nnaji and Watson, the Pelicans scored 18 points in the paint (and 23 total) in the first eight minutes. It didn’t help that Jokic committed four turnovers before he made a shot, surrendering easy transition opportunities to a struggling team that has played faster since firing coach Willie Green last week.
Out of an early Adelman timeout, the Nuggets gave up two consecutive fast breaks that ended with New Orleans missing the initial layup only to score on a second chance.
“They had a coaching change,” Adelman said pregame. “New energy. … So this is a totally different challenge.”
Jokic finally kick-started the Nuggets with five straight points after they fell behind 23-10. He was on his way to a triple-double by the end of the third quarter — those are the norm when he faces New Orleans — but the upstart Pels showed him multiple defenders and made him work all night. On offense, he finished with nine turnovers. On defense, rookie Derik Queen wasn’t afraid to attack him off the dribble.
Drafted 13th overall after a controversial trade in June, Queen is the latest new-gen prospect whose play style is clearly in Jokic’s lineage. He was responsible for Colorado State’s heartbreaking NCAA Tournament loss at the buzzer last March. Now, a franchise desperate for future answers wants to develop him into a hub of half-court offense. He paced the Pels on Wednesday with 30 points, nine boards and four assists.
The Nuggets will face another Jokic disciple on Friday, when they visit Houston for an NBA Cup showdown. Turkish big man Alperen Sengun has helped establish the Rockets as the highest-rated offense in the league early this season. All five teams in Denver’s NBA Cup group are 1-1 with two games left to play, making this a critical swing game.
As for Williamson against the short-handed Nuggets? Nnaji and company settled in against him for a performance that would make Gordon proud. New Orleans won his minutes, but he was held to 14 points on 13 shots.
“It’s an everybody job,” Adelman said. “It’s one guy gets matched up with him, but when he attacks the basket, he’s an historical paint-point player. Everybody has to key in on him. And you can’t let him go get second opportunities. If you guarded him well once and he misses the shot, he’s so good at going back and getting it again. … Sometimes you have to wrap the guy up because he’s so explosive. But it’s a team challenge with that guy. Very, very unique talent.”
DENVER (AP) — Kevin Huerter and Nikola Vucevic hit big 3-pointers down the stretch and the Chicago Bulls overcame a triple-double by Nikola Jokic to hold off the Denver Nuggets 130-127 on Monday night.
The Bulls squandered an 18-point lead in the first half. They also let a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter slip away before rallying late to snap a five-game losing streak.
Huerter hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:25 left and Vucevic later extended the lead with another with 33 seconds remaining. Denver had a chance to tie it, but Jokic’s shot at the buzzer was off the mark.
Ayo Dosunmu and Josh Giddey led six Bulls players in double figures with 21 points each. Giddey also had 14 rebounds.
Chicago handed the Nuggets their first home loss of the season in a game in which the Bulls held a 66-9 advantage in bench scoring.
The Bulls showed no signs of exhaustion despite arriving in the Mile High City off a 150-147 double-overtime loss in Utah the night before.
Jokic finished with 36 points, 18 rebound and 13 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season. He was an assist shy of reaching the mark by halftime. Jamal Murray scored 18 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Gordon had 24 points for the Nuggets, who saw their seven-game winning streak halted. Denver remains without shooting guard Christian Braun (left ankle).
The Bulls sat Coby White (strained right calf) after he played 30 minutes and scored 27 points on Sunday.
Up next
Bulls: Finish a four-game trip Wednesday at Portland.
Nuggets: Begin a two-game trip Wednesday at New Orleans.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets over the Minnesota Timberwolves 123-112 for their seventh straight victory Saturday night.
The Nuggets were missing both of their starting forwards, Christian Braun (left ankle sprain) and Cam Johnson (right biceps strain), who were both injured during Denver’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Braun is expected to be sidelined at least six weeks.
The Northwest Division rivals have met in the playoffs twice in the last three years. The Timberwolves swept the regular-season series last year, but Denver has won both meetings this season. The teams last played in Minneapolis in October. Edwards and Jaylen Clark were out with injuries, and the Nuggets overcame an eight-point halftime deficit with a 45-point third quarter en route to a 127-114 win.
The Nuggets and Timberwolves meet next on Christmas Day in a game that will tip off on The Spot Denver 3 and conclude on Denver7.
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds for his fifth triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets continued their mastery of Miami with a 122-112 win over the Heat on Wednesday night.
It was Denver’s 11th straight regular-season win over the Heat.
Jokic was 12 of 18 from the floor. He finished his triple-double by grabbing an offensive rebound with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Aaron Gordon added 24 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 4-0 at home this season.
The Nuggets led by 17 points in the fourth quarter before the Heat cut the deficit to eight with 43 seconds left. Jamal Murray sealed it with a pair of free throws.
Miami hasn’t won a game in the Mile High City during the regular season since Nov. 30, 2016. They did beat the Nuggets in Game 2 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Denver won the series in five games for its only title.
Norman Powell had 23 points for Miami, which finished a four-game trip with a 1-3 mark. Bam Adebayo didn’t play after the first quarter due to a left foot injury. The Heat will know more about his status Thursday. Miami was outrebounded by a 61-38 margin.
Powell started the game with a 3-pointer, marking the first time the Nuggets have trailed at home all season. They led wire-to-wire in their opening three games at Ball Arena.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game that going against his Nuggets counterpart David Adelman was a “surreal” experience given his close relationship with the Adelman family. Spoelstra considers David Adelman’s father, Rick, a role model.
Up next
Heat: Start a four-game homestand Friday against Charlotte.
Altitude might be regaining its status as a safe haven for the Nuggets.
Obliging Miami’s invitation to play fast-paced, somewhat chaotic basketball, Denver held off the Heat for a 122-112 win Wednesday and improved to 4-0 this season at Ball Arena. They were a lackluster 26-15 at home last year.
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double by the end of a bizarre and experimental third quarter, en route to 33 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists. He and his teammates benefitted from the departure of Heat star Bam Adebayo, who suffered a foot injury early in the game. With Kel’el Ware and Keshad Johnson splitting minutes at center, Denver out-rebounded Miami 68-44 for a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points and 62-42 edge in the paint.
That and the tempo at which Miami plays helped the Nuggets (5-2) pile on 68 first-half points despite shooting only 43% from the floor and 6 for 23 outside the arc. They also added 12 points in the first minute and 46 seconds of the third quarter, briefly flirting with a 150-point pace.
But every time the Nuggets threatened to blow the game open, they started to get messy. Miami shaved a 17-point deficit back to 10 with seven minutes to go, causing David Adelman to call timeout and retrieve his security blanket from the bench. On a sloppier night for the Jamal Murray-led second unit, Jokic steadied the ship. Denver won his minutes by 18 and lost those without him by eight.
Murray struggled to make his shots for the second consecutive game, going 4 of 15. But he accepted a pick-me-up from Aaron Gordon, who scored 24 points and was on the emphatic receiving end of a few Jokic dimes. Tim Hardaway Jr. also added 18 points on a 4-for-9 night from 3-point range, continuing his hot start to the season.
The 33-year-old guard, who signed a veteran minimum contract with the Nuggets, is shooting 44.7% from three after seven games. He’s playing more minutes than anybody else off Denver’s bench.
The Nuggets have now won nine consecutive regular-season home games against Miami. Other than Game 2 of the NBA Finals in 2023, their last home loss to the Heat was Nov. 30, 2016.
Miami did, however, hand the Nuggets their first deficit at Ball Arena this season when Norman Powell buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key against their zone on the first possession of the game. He went for a team-leading 23 points, but the Heat did most of their leading in the first quarter. Denver trailed by more than seven and never trailed after halftime.
The injury to Adebayo played a major role in that. Ware couldn’t hold his own on the glass, and when he wasn’t on the floor, Jokic was in full attack mode. He bullied Johnson and Jaime Jaquez for back-to-back buckets in the post during the second quarter, prompting Heat coach Erik Spoelstra to get Ware back on the floor shortly after. Without Adebayo, he had no available solutions.
Peyton Watson registered a career-high 10 rebounds in the win. Christian Braun didn’t score efficiently but made his share of dirty-work plays, amassing 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The Nuggets will host Golden State on Friday in their second NBA Cup group stage game after losing to Portland last week.
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 34 points and had 14 assists, Aaron Gordon added 20 points and the Denver Nuggets never trailed in a 130-124 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Jokic, who opened the season with four straight triple-doubles, grabbed a season-low four rebounds but has recorded at least a double-double in the first six games.
The Nuggets have won six straight against Sacramento dating to the 2023-24 season.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs, against his former team. Seven Sacramento players scored in double figures, but Zach LaVine, who entered Monday averaging 29.5 points, finished with a season-low 15 on just 4-of-11 shooting.
Westbrook received a warm ovation from the crowd when he was recognized at the first timeout of the game. Westbrook averaged 13.3 points in 75 games in 2024-25, his only season with Denver, and 11.7 points during the playoffs.
Nuggets coach David Adelman praised Westbrook’s play during the postseason, saying before the game that Denver would not have beaten the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round without the 18-year veteran.
Jokic scored 15 points in the opening quarter, when the Nuggets led by as many as 12. He was on the bench to start the fourth quarter and Sacramento pulled within 110-104. Jokic returned and hit a 3-pointer, fed Bruce Brown for a corner 3-pointer and made two layups.
He helped seal the win with a steal and a layup that pushed the lead to 130-117 with 2:37 left.
Christian Braun scored a season-high 21 points in a bounce-back game for the fourth-year pro. Braun had five points and four turnovers in Friday’s loss at Portland.
Up next
Kings: Host Golden State on Wednesday night.
Nuggets: Continue their four-game homestand against Miami on Wednesday night.
