Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic star as Nuggets halt Warriors’ win streak on Christmas

Jamal Murray scored 28 points, Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 14 rebounds and hit all 18 of his free-throw attempts, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors 120-114 on Monday, December 25 (Tuesday, December 26, Manila time).

Michael Porter Jr. finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Aaron Gordon added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Denver has won five straight and eight of its last nine.

Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points off the bench, Stephen Curry scored 18 points, Dario Saric contributed 14 points, and Jonathan Kuminga, Chris Paul, and Brandin Podziemski scored 13 apiece for Golden State. The Warriors had their five-game winning streak snapped.

The Nuggets led by 3 entering the fourth but Golden State scored the first 6 points to go in front 95-92. Porter made a layup and Jokic fed Murray for a reverse dunk to give Denver a 100-97 lead.

Jokic and Wiggins traded baskets to keep the Nuggets in front by a point before they went on a small run to expand the lead to 114-107 with 2:02 left.

Curry answered with a three-pointer for the Warriors but Jokic hit a running dunk and Murray drained two free throws to seal it for Denver.

The Nuggets led by as many as 10 in the first quarter but Golden State rallied in a back-and-forth second. The Warriors put together a 15-3 run that gave them a 43-37 lead but Murray had 7 points in a 9-2 run by Denver.

Curry didn’t score until he made a free throw with 5:46 left in the second quarter and finished with 4 points in the half but Golden State was able to take a 54-53 at intermission.

The teams continued to trade blows throughout the third quarter, with Curry and Murray dueling early in the period that resulted in the Warriors leading 65-63. Jokic made two free throws to put the Nuggets ahead by 4 and Caldwell-Pope made a corner three-pointer to increase the lead to 81-75. – Rappler.com