NEW YORK — — Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone felt his team would play against a Brooklyn Nets team that was missing three of its best players, including All-Star guard James Harden.
The Nuggets needed Austin Rivers, who scored 22 of his 25 second-half points, and Nikola Jokic’s 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to beat the Nets 124-118 on Wednesday night.
Denver took an early 17-8 lead before the Nets shrugged off their early struggles to trail by one late in the first quarter.
“We may not have played perfect basketball, but we’re winning games,” Malone said. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. A lot of the NBA is like winning the games you’re supposed to win and that’s not disrespecting a team like Detroit or those Brooklyn Nets – obviously all the guys they put out.
Aside from Harden, who had the night off to rest an ailing left hamstring after playing 38 minutes in Tuesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Nets are without Kevin Durant (sprained hamstring ligament). left knee) and Kyrie Irving (vaccination status).
Rookie Cam Thomas scored 25 points and Patty Mills added 21 for Brooklyn, which has lost three straight games.
“Just not enough against a really good team,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “We played well for long stretches, but probably didn’t take care of enough detail to conclude.”
The Nets are now 6-10 in January after going 8-3 in December.
Denver also got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Will Barton and 13 points off the bench from DeMarcus Cousins to win its last three games and eight of 13.
Brooklyn led 65-54 at halftime and Denver cut it to 77-70 with 7:39 left in the third period.
The Nuggets then outscored the Nets 22-7 for a six-minute span in which Rivers hit three-for-3, the latter putting Denver ahead 92-84.
Rivers connected on three more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
“I am a goalscorer. I can score the ball,” said Rivers, who shot 8 of 11 from the field, including 7 of 10 from long range. “I really feel like I can do it consistently. But obviously I have my role here. So I try to go out every night and be aggressive and you just look for those opportunities.
Brooklyn had a chance to get under two points with 3:22 remaining in regulation. LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 18 points, missed two free throws.
Aaron Gordon then responded with a back baseline jumper to make it 118-113 before James Johnson made a free throw to cut Denver’s 118-114 lead with 1:52 left in the game.
Brooklyn’s offense spat on the stretch, missing five straight shots as Denver went 6-0, capped by Monte Morris’ layup with 45 seconds left to extend the 124-114 lead.
Nuggets: Barton was back in the starting lineup after missing Tuesday night’s win at Detroit with a strained right hamstring. … The cousins were given two technical fouls. The first came with 42 seconds left in the third quarter, and he was ejected after recovering the second with 11:17 left in the final period.
Nets: Rookie center Day’ron Sharpe did not play due to an illness that was unrelated to COVID-19.
Nets coach Steve Nash thinks Harden’s frustration is with the Nets’ struggles since the team’s COVID-19 outbreak in December — not because he’s unhappy in Brooklyn. html/container.html
“Since COVID came back, it’s been a very average basketball,” Nash said. “So we have higher expectations and it’s frustrating, but I think James is certainly happy here.”
Denver is 2-0 on its current six-game road trip, their second-longest of the season. The Nuggets played seven straight games at home between Nov. 29 and Dec. 11, going 4-3.
