The Denver Nuggets continued their march toward the Western Conference top seed Monday with a 116-111 win over Philadelphia, while the Sacramento Kings’ hopes of ending a 16-year NBA playoff drought remained on hold.
Two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic had his 29th triple-double of the season for Denver with 25 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists.
It also made him just the third player after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson to have 10-plus games in a season with 20-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 10-plus assists.
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DONCIC DELIVERS
Elsewhere, there was good news for the slumping Dallas Mavericks, who snapped a four-game skid with a 127-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 25 points — starting the game after the NBA rescinded the technical foul he was assessed in a loss at Charlotte on Sunday, which would have been his 16th of the season and triggered an automatic one-game suspension.
Doncic made the most of the reprieve, adding seven rebounds and six assists — one of them an impressive side-armed pass across the court to rookie Jaden Hardy for a three-pointer when Doncic himself couldn’t get a shot off in the face of a fierce double team.
“I didn’t think he saw me at first,” Hardy said. “Then, when saw me, I didn’t think he was going to be able to get it to me. But he did … so I was like, I’ve got to knock this down for him.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd wasn’t surprised.
“He’s one of the best passers in the league,” Kidd said. “He can find guys — he’s strong enough, I don’t know if anybody else can make that pass.”
Kyrie Irving added 16 points and six assists for the Mavericks, who are half a game behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the hunt for the final two Western Conference play-in tournament berths.
BUCKS CONTINUE LADDER-LEADING YEAR
Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton scored a season-high 34 points as the Bucks improved their NBA-best record with a 126-117 victory over the Detroit Pistons despite the absence of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo, out with a sore knee, was just one of the Bucks’ high-profile absentees, with Jrue Holiday away for personal reasons and Jae Crowder sidelined by a calf injury.
QUICKLEY GOES OFF FOR 40
In New York, Immanuel Quickley scored 40 points to help the Knicks rout the Houston Rockets 137-115. Julius Randle added 26 points for New York, who are holding down fifth place in the East.
