NBA: Nuggets maintain home mastery of Knicks
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets drives to the basket against Jericho Sims #45 of the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena on February 8, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. Justin Tafoya/Getty Images/AFP
Nikola Jokic logged 21 points and 10 rebounds, Bones Hyland scored 22 points and the host Denver Nuggets beat the New York Knicks 132-115 on Tuesday night.
Will Barton and JaMychal Green had 20 points each, Aaron Gordon contributed 19 points and Zeke Nnaji had 11 for the Nuggets, who have won two in a row after a three-game losing streak.
Denver has won 14 straight home games against the Knicks and nine in a row overall in the series.
Julius Randle had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 21 points, RJ Barrett had 18, Alec Burks finished with 14, Taj Gibson had 12 and Obi Toppin notched 11 points for New York, which has lost four straight and seven of the past eight.
The Knicks led by five in the first quarter before the Nuggets took a two-point lead into the second, during which they established control.
Hyland hit a turnaround jumper, Bryn Forbes a long 3-pointer and Jeff Green and Hyland made two free throws around a dunk by Toppin as Denver grabbed a 53-44 lead.
MILE HIGH CITY BABYYYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/EOCpVHL8G3
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) February 9, 2022
Nnaji scored off a missed free throw and Hyland hit a running 3-pointer to put the Nuggets ahead 59-44 and force a New York timeout.
Green scored the next four points and Hyland hit a step-back 3-pointer to cap a 22-2 run that put Denver up 66-44 with 6:03 left in the quarter.
The lead grew to as much as 27 points, but the Knicks got the deficit down to 19. Gordon scored five straight points, and two free throws by Jokic closed out the second gave the Nuggets an 83-60 halftime lead.
Denver has averaged 79.5 points in the first half over the past two games, both of them victories over New York teams.
The Knicks outscored the Nuggets 34-28 in the third quarter to get within 17 and then made a run in the fourth quarter. Burks converted a three-point play to make it 114-100 with 9:24 to go, and Toppin’s 3-pointer cut New York’s deficit to 120-107 midway through the fourth.
The Knicks went nearly three minutes without scoring, and Denver pushed the lead to 17, closing it out.
