Nikola Jokic leads Nuggets past Thunder

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets goes to the basket against Isaiah Roby #22 of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first quarter at Ball Arena on January 19, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the Nuggets’ 119-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Denver in Tuesday night’s only other contest.

Jokic also handed out six assists and with the game well in hand sat out the fourth quarter along with the rest of Denver’s starters.

Monte Morris added 15 points off the bench and Paul Millsap and Will Barton scored 13 points apiece for the Nuggets.

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Denver, who reached the Western Conference finals last season but have been off to a slow start in this campaign, improved to 7-7.

Luguentz Dort led the Thunder with 20 points, 15 of them in the first half.

But Denver took control in the second quarter and never trailed after halftime, pushing their lead to as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder were coming off an unexpectedly long break since a victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Their game against the Philadelphia 76ers scheduled for Sunday was postponed because the 76ers didn’t have the required eight available players because of Covid-19 health protocols.