Nuggets hold off Clippers, Bulls beat Pacers

Denver and their NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic thwarted a furious Clippers rally to emerge with a 103-100 victory in Los Angeles on Sunday.   

The Nuggets saw their 17-point third-quarter lead evaporate, falling behind by nine with 9:04 remaining only to rally for the narrow victory.   

Jokic scored 26 points and pulled down 22 rebounds for the Nuggets. Will Barton added 17 and Austin Rivers and Monte Morris scored 12 points apiece as Denver avoided the kind of collapse that saw them waste a 19-point lead in a loss to Charlotte on Thursday.   

Luke Kennard drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to pull the Clippers within one at 101-100.   
But Jokic was fouled on an inbounds play and made two free throws to push Denver’s lead to three and Brandon Boston’s three-point attempt at the buzzer for Los Angeles didn’t fall.   

Boston and Eric Bledsoe led Los Angeles with 18 points apiece. Ivica Zubac scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who were playing their first game since announcing that Paul George would miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his right elbow.   

Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler returned from an eight-game injury absence to post a double-double in the Miami Heat’s 93-83 victory over the Orlando Magic.  (AFP)

Butler, who was sidelined with a bruised tailbone, scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, handing out four assists and coming up with three steals.   

It couldn’t have been more timely after Miami guard Kyle Lowry on Saturday joined the parade of NBA players sidelined by Covid-19 concerns.   

Miami were also without regular starters Bam Adebayo and P.J. Tucker. Orlando were even more short-handed and the teams reached halftime with Miami holding a slim 42-39 lead, despite connecting on just 37.8 percent of their shots from the field.   

Six three-pointers in a 30-point third quarter helped the Heat pull away. They led by as many as 18 in the fourth period.   

Coping with inevitable injuries has become more problematic for all teams amid the wave of Coronavirus cases in the league that mirror the rise of the Omicron variant in the United States.   

The Magic had six players in the league’s Covid protocols on Sunday, with another player cleared to return but still absent because of conditioning issues. Another six players were out with injuries. “You expect the unexpected,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. (AFP) Cap;

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) moves to the basket against Los Angeles Clippers center Serge Ibaka (9)