LOS ANGELES, United States — Denver
and their NBA Most Valuable Player
Nikola Jokic thwarted a furious Clippers
rally to emerge with a 103-100 victory in Los Angeles on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
The Nuggets saw their 17-point third-quarter
lead evaporate, falling behind by nine with 9:04 remaining only to rally for
the narrow victory.
Jokic scored 26 points and pulled down 22
rebounds for the Nuggets. Will Barton added 17 and Austin Rivers and Monte
Morris scored 12 points apiece as Denver avoided the kind of collapse that saw
them waste a 19-point lead in a loss to Charlotte on Thursday.
Luke Kennard drained a three-pointer with 19
seconds left to pull the Clippers within one at 101-100.
But Jokic was fouled on an inbounds play and
made two free throws to push Denver's lead to three and
Brandon Boston's
three-point attempt at the buzzer for Los Angeles didn't fall.
Boston and
Eric Bledsoe led Los Angeles with
18 points apiece.
Ivica Zubac scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the
Clippers, who were playing their first game since announcing that
Paul George
would miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his right elbow.
Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler returned from an
eight-game injury absence to post a double-double in the Miami Heat's 93-83
victory over the
Orlando Magic.
Butler, who was sidelined with a bruised
tailbone, scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, handing out four
assists and coming up with three steals.
It couldn't have been more timely after
Miami guard Kyle Lowry on Saturday joined the parade of
NBA players sidelined
by COVID-19 concerns.
Miami were also without regular starters
Bam Adebayo and P.J. Tucker. Orlando were even more short-handed and the teams
reached halftime with Miami holding a slim 42-39 lead, despite connecting on
just 37.8 percent of their shots from the field.
Six three-pointers in a 30-point third
quarter helped the Heat pull away. They led by as many as 18 in the fourth
period.
Coping with inevitable injuries has become more
problematic for all teams amid the wave of coronavirus cases in the league that
mirror the rise of the Omicron variant in the US.
The Magic had six players in the league's
COVID-19 protocols on Sunday, with another player cleared to return but still absent
because of conditioning issues. Another six players were out with injuries.
"You expect the unexpected," Magic
coach Jamahl Mosley said.
In Cleveland, the Cavaliers thrashed Toronto
144-99 in the Raptors' first game since December 18.
The Raptors, who had three of their past
four scheduled games postponed because of lack of available players, had the
league minimum eight on Sunday -- four on regular contracts and four signed
under the league's hardship rules.
"We haven't done a thing since our last
game," Toronto coach
Nick Nurse said before the game.
Kevin Love and Darius Garland scored 22
points each for the Cavs, who tied a club record with 46 points in the third
quarter.
LaVine lifts Bulls
In Chicago, the Bulls were buoyed by the
return of Zach LaVine from COVID-19 protocols in a 113-105 victory over the
Indiana Pacers.
LaVine scored 32 points and
DeMar DeRozan added 24 for Chicago, who led most of the way en route to their third straight
win.
LaVine, who hadn't played since December 11,
admitted he'd been frustrated to be ruled out because of COVID-19 concerns.
"But that's the world we're living in
right now," he said. "Everybody in the league and the world is
dealing with it right now, so I'm not doing a poor-me mentality."
It was another lopsided affair in
Washington, where Philadelphia's
Joel Embiid scored 36 points and grabbed 13
rebounds in the 76ers' 117-96 victory over the Wizards, who were without top
scorer Bradley Beal because of COVID-19.
The
Memphis Grizzlies, who lost Dillon
Brooks and two other players to COVID-19 concerns on Sunday morning, shook off
a slow start against the Kings in Sacramento to triumph 127-102.
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