Nuggets continue to dominate Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS -- Nikola Jokic had 30 points and 17 rebounds and Wilson Chandler added 24 points on Friday night, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 125-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
The Nuggets (35-37), who made 40 of 43 free throws, had to withstand a furious Indiana fourth-quarter comeback.
A Jeff Teague 3-pointer with 3:17 remaining pulled the Pacers within 111-103, prompting a Denver timeout. Teague scored again with 2:04 left to cut the lead to 111-105.
After two Denver free throws, Paul George sank a 3-pointer to pull Indiana within 113-108. But Jokic answered with a 3-pointer with 1:28 to play, extending the Nuggets' lead to 116-108.
George led the Pacers with 27 points, Teague added 21 and Myles Turner had 20. Monta Ellis came off the bench to score 17 points.
Including Friday night, Denver has won nine of its past 13 games and swept the two-game series from Indiana (36-36), which has lost two in a row and 10 of its 12 most recent games with the Nuggets, including a 140-112 drubbing on Jan. 12 in London.
Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, which outrebounded Indiana 46-39.
The Nuggets, who defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-113 on Wednesday night in Denver, continued to attack the struggling Pacers in the third quarter, increasing its 11-point halftime lead to 94-75 through three quarters.
Chandler had a 10-point third quarter and the Nuggets were 14 of 15 from the free throw line in extending their advantage to 19 points. Indiana was only 8 of 22 (36.4 percent) from the field in the third quarter.
The Nuggets shot 58.1 percent from the field (25 of 43) during the first half, getting 21 points and 12 rebounds from Jokic, who was 9 of 11 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line in the opening 24 minutes while building a 64-53 lead.
Wilson Chandler had 12 first-half points for Denver and Gary Harris scored eight.
George led Indiana with 11 points and Ellis scored nine for the Pacers, who shot 48.1 percent from the field (25 of 52) in the first two quarters.
NOTES: Indiana was without F/G Glenn Robinson III (sore left calf), which gave extra playing time to G Rodney Stuckey. ... Denver G Gary Harris is a Fishers, Ind., native and a former Indiana Mr. Basketball from Hamilton Southeastern High School. ... The Nuggets scored a season-high 140 points in a Jan. 12 victory over the Pacers in a game played in London. ... While Denver's first half was impressive with 64 points, that effort was 15 points shy of the 79 they scored on Feb. 13 against Golden State. ... This was the first of a three-game homestand for Indiana, which hosts Philadelphia on Sunday and Minnesota on Tuesday. ... Denver came in leading the NBA in rebounding at 46.3 per game.