LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 yesterday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak.
Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player award last season, posted a career scoring high – surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021.
The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time since October 30.
Poole made a career-high nine of Washington’s 16 three-pointers while the Nuggets connected on just five of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc.
Justin Champagnie scored 23 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who were without a string of key players including Kyle Kuzma, Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey.
Washington seized control early against a Nuggets team without five regulars, including Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray and Dario Saric who were all ruled out hours before the game.
They out-scored the Nuggets 36-29 in the first quarter and led 69-57 at halftime.
Jokic went for broke in the third in a bid to turn things around, connecting on nine of an astonishing 20 shot attempts and scoring 23 points as the Nuggets whittled the deficit to six points going into the final period.
The Wizards pushed their lead back to 13 early in the fourth with Jokic getting some rest on the bench, and Denver couldn’t get the deficit below five points the rest of the way.
“Hearing some MVP chants was kind of cool when the MVP (Jokic) was on the floor,” Poole said of the cheers of Washington fans when he went to the free-throw line in the closing seconds.
CAVALIERS DOMINATE HORNETS
Meanwhile Evan Mobley scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in a dominant 116-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Mobley set the tone with 23 points in the first quarter, when he made five of his six three-pointers and the Cavs pushed their lead to as many as 22 before taking a 63-52 advantage into halftime.
“He didn’t hit the rim on the threes,” teammate Caris LeVert said of Mobley’s effort.
“They were all swishes, like the first four or five… it was definitely a sight to see.”
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland added 18 points apiece for the Cavs and Jarrett Allen added 11 points and 10 assists as Cleveland improved to 21-3.
CELTICS FALL
In Boston, Ja Morant scored 32 points with nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 127-121 victory over the reigning champion Celtics.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Grizzlies, who fended off the Celtics’ fourth-quarter comeback bid.
