NBA: Healthy once more, Nuggets secure wire-to-wire defeat of Trail Blazers

Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists, Jamal Murray also scored 22 points and the host Denver Nuggets never trailed in a 128-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.

Peyton Watson scored 14 points off the bench in his return from a 19-game absence with a hamstring strain. Cameron Johnson scored 19 points, Christian Braun had 15 points, Bruce Brown contributed 13 and Aaron Gordon had 12 points for the Nuggets.

Denver (44-28) has beaten Portland 11 straight times on its home court.

Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 23 points and 14 assists, Donovan Clingan had 18 points, a career-high four 3-pointers and 13 rebounds, Toumani Camara and Robert Williams III scored 16 each and Scoot Henderson finished with 13 points.

Portland (35-37) had won three in a row and finished 3-2 on its road trip. The Blazers are ninth in the Western Conference with 10 games remaining.

The Nuggets, who have won two straight overall and four in a row at home, shot 58.3% in the first half and led 75-69. Jokic had a near-triple-double before halftime, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

He notched his 28th triple-double of the season and 192nd of his career when he fed Johnson for a corner 3-pointer that gave Denver an 88-74 lead with 8:18 left in the third quarter. The Nuggets pushed their lead to 18 with an 8-0 run late in the third and took a 107-93 lead into the fourth.

Jrue Holiday drained a three 30 seconds into the final period and Portland had a chance to get within eight after Denver missed its first three shots of the fourth. The Nuggets turned up the defense, with Spencer Jones getting a steal and block that led to fastbreak layups, and he slammed home an alley-oop to give Denver a 113-96 lead with 9:37 left.

The Blazers didn’t get closer than 14 the rest of the way. — Field Level Media/Reuters