Trey Lyles scored a season-high 22 points off the bench, Nikola Jokic finished four points shy of a triple-double, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Orlando Magic 112-87 on Friday night.
Jamal Murray scored 16 points and Mason Plumlee had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Denver (12-7).
Terrence Ross led the Magic with 18 points and made his first seven shots -- four from 3-point range -- before missing. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points for Orlando (9-10).
The Nuggets took control of this one with a strong second quarter. Like they did in the third quarter against Minnesota on Wednesday, they clamped down defensively and hit some key shots.
Denver led by just 40-37 after Vucevic had a putback layup with 4:06 to go in the first half, but Gary Harris hit a step-back jumper, Juancho Hernangomez drained a 3-pointer and Harris hit another bucket to make it 47-37.
Hernangomez capped a 14-5 run to end the half with his second 3-pointer and a 54-42 Nuggets lead at intermission.
Denver tried to pull away in the third quarter with an 8-0 run and led by 16 after Murray's jumper with 4:51 to go in the third. Orlando crept within 10 on a free throw from Aaron Gordon, but Monte Morris hit a 3-pointer and the Nuggets extended to a 17-point lead, their biggest of the game to that point.
Mo Bamba's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter got the Magic back within 11 but Mason Plumlee hit two layups and Lyles a running layup to extend Denver's lead back to 90-73 with 8:46 left.
After a timeout the Magic missed their next two shots -- including the first miss by Ross -- and Denver put it away. Lyles hit a cutting layup and was fouled to put the Nuggets up 20. A Murray 3-pointer made it 96-73 with 7:11 left to cap a 12-0 run.
Malik Beasley's 3-pointer off a steal and dunk with 5:08 left gave Denver a 29-point lead.
--Field Level Media
Orlando | Denver | |
Terrence Ross 18 | Scoring | Trey Lyles 22 |
Evan Fournier 5 | Assists | Nikola Jokic 11 |
Aaron Gordon 9 | Rebounds | Mason Plumlee 11 |
Jonathan Isaac 5 | Free Throws Made | Paul Millsap 4 |
Evan Fournier 3 | Steals | Nikola Jokic 2 |
Aaron Gordon 1 | Blocks | Paul Millsap 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Orlando | 87 | 40.5 | 8-32 | 15-19 | 24 | 37 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
Denver | 112 | 47.3 | 9-28 | 15-17 | 33 | 51 | 5 | 10 | 11 |