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National Basketball Association
Denver 113, New York 99
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 4, 2021
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: #83 Andy Nagy, #36 Brent Barnaky, #49 Tom Washington
Attendance: 18272

Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Zeke Nnaji had a career-high 21 points, and the visiting Denver Nuggets beat the New York Knicks 113-99 on Saturday.

Will Barton scored 13 points and Jeff Green had 11 for Denver, which has won four straight at New York.

Julius Randle had 24 points for the Knicks, while Evan Fournier had 15, RJ Barrett scored 13 and Derrick Rose added 11. New York has lost three consecutive games and four of its last five.

The Nuggets were without Bones Hyland and Austin Rivers for the second straight game after the duo was placed in health and safety protocols. Denver was already thin in the backcourt with P.J. Dozier tearing his ACL last week so Davon Reed was signed off the practice squad.

Reed scored nine points in 24 minutes of his Nuggets debut.

New York trailed 60-49 at halftime but scored the first four points of the second half to get within seven, before Denver went back ahead by 66-55 on a Barton 3-pointer. Two free throws by Barrett and a 3-pointer from Alec Burks got New York within 69-63 but then the Nuggets dominated the rest of the third quarter.

Jokic scored 12 points, Green had two baskets and Reed hit his second 3-pointer of the day during a 23-3 run for Denver that made it 92-66 with 1:30 left in the period.

Any hopes of a New York comeback were ended early in the fourth quarter. Denver's Facundo Campazzo hit a pair of 3-pointers, Reed hit one as well and JaMychal Green scored five straight to give Denver a 106-76 lead with 8:40 to play.

New York went on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 20 with 3:48 left before Denver closed it out.

The Nuggets led the by two early but pulled away behind Nnaji off the bench. He hit two 3-pointers late in the first quarter to put the Denver ahead 28-20. He scored 10 points in the second quarter, and his 3-pointer midway through the period gave the Nuggets a 44-28 lead.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Denver   New York
Nikola Jokic 32 Scoring Julius Randle 24
Will Barton 6 Assists Julius Randle 8
Nikola Jokic 11 Rebounds Obi Toppin 8
Jeff Green 2 Free Throws Made Alec Burks 5
Aaron Gordon 3 Steals Alec Burks 2
JaMychal Green 2 Blocks Mitchell Robinson 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Denver 113 52.4 20-43 5-5 30 42 5 10 13
New York 99 39.8 12-40 17-21 23 40 3 7 11
Upcoming Games
  • New York will play their next game on the road against San Antonio. The Knicks have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .636 after a loss.
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .364 after a loss.