Nikola Jokić had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to reach those totals in a game, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 in overtime on Tuesday night. (More Basketball News)
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon each scored 24 points for the Nuggets, while Russell Westbrook added 22.
Dennis Schröder scored 28 points for Brooklyn, which led by 17 in the second quarter. Cam Thomas scored 26, Cam Johnson had 20 and Nic Claxton added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Thomas gave the Nets a 127-125 lead with the first basket of overtime, but the Nuggets scored the next eight points and led the rest of the way.
Jokic has two triple-doubles in the Nuggets’ first four games and has scored at least 40 twice, with neither of those outbursts occurring within the triple-doubles.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who did it twice, is the only other player to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists in a game.
The Nets led by one when Dorian Finney-Smith went to the foul line with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He only made one of two, allowing Jokic’s inside bucket to tie the score with 8.8 seconds remaining. Finney-Smith then missed an open 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Irving, Doncic lift Mavericks over Wolves
Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his 35 points in the third quarter, Luka Dončić had a late surge to finish with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-114 in the first rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
Anthony Edwards had 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter to set a Target Center record, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range.
Doncic put his stamp on the game with a 33-footer with 1:04 left to stretch the lead to eight points, barking at fans as he skipped back to the bench after a timeout. That was his only make in eight tries from behind the arc.
P.J. Washington added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who played on back-to-back nights after beating Utah 110-102 at home on Monday.
Julius Randle had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who had 20 turnovers that Dallas turned into 25 points.
Irving went 6 for 8 from 3-point range, including one with 2:31 left and Randle tightly guarding him at the top of the key after the Timberwolves pulled within 109-107.
Short-handed Warriors rally past Pelicans
Buddy Hield scored a season-best 28 points, Brandin Podziemski had 19 points and fuelled a furious second-half comeback, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from 17 down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-106.
Zion Williamson had a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting and eight rebounds for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram scored 30 points.
Jonathan Kuminga, who started the initial three games for Golden State but was averaging 8.0 points on 33.3% shooting, came off the bench to score 17. Reserve Lindy Waters III had 21 points and nine rebounds in his best game yet for Golden State.
The short-handed Warriors needed everything from everybody with starters Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins sidelined.
Curry missed the game with a sprained left ankle he injured in the second half of Sunday's 112-104 loss to the Clippers. He is set to be re-evaluated on Friday.
Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton each sat out with lower back strains.
Hield returned to the starting lineup and overcame a slow start to make seven 3-pointers after a disappointing home debut Sunday in which he missed 8 of 9 3s and scored eight points.
