Nikola Jokic finished one rebound shy of a triple-double, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray scored 23 points apiece, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 116-111 on Monday night.

Jokic finished with 12 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help Denver (5-1) remain unbeaten in four home games this season. Paul Millsap scored 18 points for the Nuggets.

Julius Randle had 24 points and eight rebounds and Nikola Mirotic had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans (4-2), which hung tough despite not having Anthony Davis.

Davis missed his second straight game with a sprained right elbow sustained Friday against the Brooklyn Nets. He played through the injury Friday but sat out Saturday's loss against the Utah Jazz.

The Nuggets stormed ahead by outscoring the Pelicans 38-21 in the second quarter to take a 13-point halftime lead.

They methodically increased the lead to 18 on Harris' 3-pointer with 4:51 left in the third quarter, but New Orleans chipped away at the deficit.

The Pelicans outscored Denver by 10 the rest of the quarter to get within a manageable position, and then got even closer at the start of the fourth.

Mirotic hit a 17-footer and E'Twaun Moore, who finished with 18 points, hit two 3-pointers to make it 88-84 early in the fourth. Denver increased the lead to nine midway through, but Jrue Holiday hit a corner 3-pointer and Mirotic had an easy layup that made it 94-92 with 5:20 left.

Holiday finished with 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

The 7-0 run was helped by Denver missing six straight shots. Twice the Pelicans had a chance to tie it in the final five minutes but missed close-in shots. Murray broke Denver's drought with a floater in the lane, Malik Beasley scored five straight points and Harris' second straight steal led to a Millsap dunk and a 103-94 lead with 2:53 left.

The Pelicans didn't go away, cutting it to 107-104 on Frank Jackson's 3-pointer with 1:01 left, but Denver closed it out at the line.

--Field Level Media