Nikola Jokic posted his league-leading 17th triple-double of the season, bundling 24 points with 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the Denver Nuggets’ 133-113 road win over the Miami Heat on Friday night.
Jamal Murray led all scorers with 30 points for Denver, which won for the fifth time in six games and defeated Miami for the 10th straight time.
Aaron Gordon scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for the Nuggets after sitting out Wednesday’s loss to Houston with a calf injury. Jokic, a three-time MVP, also sat out Wednesday due to an inflamed right elbow.
Friday marked the return of Heat star Jimmy Butler, who served a seven-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. Butler, who has asked for a trade, played 33 minutes and had 18 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Tyler Herro, who had at least 32 points in three straight games, tallied a team-high 22 for Miami. Bam Adebayo chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds and Nikola Jovic also scored 16 for the Heat in their third straight loss.
Denver led by as many as 11 points before settling for a 30-24 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Jokic had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists in the period.
Murray had 11 points and Gordon netted 10 during the second quarter to help the Nuggets build a 67-55 halftime lead. Jokic finished the half with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Jokic secured his triple-double with 1:22 left in the third quarter on a no-look bounce pass behind his head to Gordon, who soared in for a fastbreak dunk to put Denver up 95-84.
The Nuggets led 98-86 going into the fourth quarter and stretched the margin to as large as 23.
Denver improved to 13-8 on the road and 9-3 since putting veteran guard Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup. Westbrook finished with 11 points and seven assists.
The Nuggets shot 54.3 percent overall, including 16-for-33 on 3-pointers (48.5 percent). Miami finished 49.5 percent from the floor but hit just 9 of 33 attempts from 3-point range (27.3 percent).
