LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Gordon scored 29 points, Jamal Murray added 19 and the Denver Nuggets beat the short-played Clippers 114-104 on Friday night.
Nikola Jokic added 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who led by 21 early in the fourth quarter on a 10-point streak midway through the period.
John Wall had a season-high 23 points for the Clippers, who were down to 10 players after Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Luke Kennard all sat out with injuries. Leonard missed his second straight game after spraining his right ankle Monday night against Utah. George missed his third straight game with a right hamstring and Kennard racked up four sideouts with a strained right calf.
Terance Mann added 16 points and Marcus Morris Sr. had 15.
Denver was down to 10 players in Wednesday’s win over Oklahoma City, but was bolstered by the returns of Murray and Ish Smith to the lineup.
The game was tied at 18 midway through the first quarter before the Nuggets scored nine straight points to lead the rest of the game.
Denver extended its lead to 64-52 at halftime and led by 17 with 2 minutes remaining in the third after a pair of free throws by Vlatko Cancar made it 85-68. The Clippers made a late run to get within 87-77
