Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 11 assists, Jamal Murray had 26 points and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 129-106 on Saturday in a matchup between NBA conference leaders.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 19 points for West-leading Denver (50-24), which beat East-leading Milwaukee 68-40 in the second half.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points — only seven of them in the second half — and grabbed nine rebounds for the Bucks (53-20).
The duel between the best teams in each conference was more competitive than in the first meeting between the two teams, which the Bucks won 107-99. On that occasion, the Nuggets benched four starters — Jokic, Murray, Porter and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — for the game in Milwaukee on Jan. 25. Denver had played the previous night in New Orleans and decided to give their stars a rest.
On Saturday, Antetokounmpo scored 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the first half. Murray (20 points) and Jokic (17 points) held Denver to within three points at halftime, and then the Nuggets outscored Milwaukee 34-19 in the third quarter for a 97-85 lead.
Pelicans 131
Clippers 110
Trey Murphy III scored 32 points, Brandon Ingram scored 32 and had 13 assists and the New Orleans Pelicans never gave up their lead in their 131-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
CJ McCollum had 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pelicans, who have won four in a row.
New Orleans set a season high with 21 triples. Murphy was a big factor in that success, with a career-high 10 of 12 3-pointers.
Bones Hyland scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard added 12 points and six rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost three of four.
The Pelicans, who run the risk of being left out of the playoff tournament, started with energy and scored the first eight points, a momentum that they did not lose throughout the game.
New Orleans made seven of its first eight 3-pointers and nine of 11 in the first quarter to earn an 11-point margin.
Murphy was nearly indefensible from distance, hitting his first five long shots and helping the Pelicans open up a 19-point lead, the biggest in the first half, early in the second quarter.
The Clippers tried to attack and got within 47-40 with an 11-point run, but the Pelicans broke the offense with 3-pointers.
New Orleans finished on 14-of-22 3-point shooting (63.6%) in the first half.
