Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton, front right, loses control of the ball as Los Angeles Clippers forward Brandon Bass, front left, and guard Austin Rivers defend in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 16, 2017, in Denver. The Nuggets won 129-114. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER, COLORADO—Will Barton scored a career-high 35 points, Nikola Jokic recorded his fifth triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 129-114 on Thursday night to win their fourth straight.
Jokic finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to help lead Denver to a win in a matchup of short-handed teams.
The Clippers played without Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who were left back in Los Angeles for the one-game trip. Denver forwards Wilson Chandler (right groin) and Danilo Gallinari (left knee bone bruise) also sat, but Kenneth Faried returned after missing nine games with lower back spasms. Faried had 12 points in 18 minutes.
Chris Paul had 18 points and 14 assists, J.J. Redick scored a team-high 22 points and Austin Rivers had 17 for the Clippers, who have lost three straight.
The Nuggets led by as many as 15 in the first half and 13 at the break, but the Clippers quickly cut it to six in the third quarter.
Barton, who scored 13 points in the second quarter, ended the third with nine points in the final 56 seconds to give Denver a 103-80 lead heading into the fourth.
The lead grew to as much as 25 and the Clippers never threatened. Barton’s seventh 3-pointer, which tied a career high, capped a 20-point half for the guard.
The Clippers made the decision to leave home Griffin and Jordan before Wednesday’s loss to Milwaukee, but Malone was asked before Thursday’s tip how he found out that the two big men were out.
“I called up Doc (Rivers) after the game last night and said, ‘Tough loss to Milwaukee, guys look tired and why don’t you keep them home,'” Malone joked. “One of my assistant coaches texted me after the game, and listening to the postgame comments that Doc had mentioned he was going to leave them home.”
Jordan had played in every game this season, was busy with All-Star weekend and has been flying back and forth to his home in Houston to deal with a family issue, so Rivers told the center he wasn’t going to play against Denver.
“I didn’t pose it as a question,” Rivers said. “I thought that was a better way of doing that. He’s had no rest all year, and he went through the All-Star weekend, and he enjoyed that whole weekend, if I know my DJ. He’s done more travel than us these past two weeks, which is virtually impossible.”