Harden and Powell helped the Clippers overcome Jokic’s 41 points and beat the Nuggets 109-104

DENVER (AP) — James Harden had 23 points and 16 assists, Norman Powell had 26 of his 37 points in the second half and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame Nikola Jokic’s 41 points to beat the Denver Nuggets 109-104 in Saturday

Jokic made a career-high seven 3-pointers, but missed a free throw that would have tied the game with 20 seconds left. Harden made four from the line in the final 30.5 seconds.

The Clippers trailed 103-100 when Powell hit a 3-pointer. Jamal Murray, who scored 22 points, missed a pass and then Harden made two free throws.

After Jokic split a pair from the line, Harden made two more foul shots to make it 107-104 and Jokic missed a lopsided 3-pointer.

Takeout

Clippers: Garden missed a free throw in Wednesday’s opening loss to Phoenix, but was 12 of 13 from the line on Saturday. Several of his 16 assists went to Ivica Zubak, who scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

Nuggets: The offense was better, but the bench was 3 of 18 from the field. Only Julian Swazer scored a field goal.

The key point

Two weeks ago, Jokic presented Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon with his MVP trophy during an Avalanche home game, and MacKinnon returned the favor before Saturday’s tip-off. He picked up Michael Jordan’s trophy wearing a Jokic uniform and embraced the three-time MVP.

Key statistics

Denver made just 7 of 38 3-pointers in Thursday’s loss to Oklahoma City and went 11 of 13 on Saturday. The Nuggets made 12 of their next 20 from deep but missed the last two attempts

Further

The Clippers travel to Golden State on Sunday night and the Nuggets begin a three-game road trip in Toronto on Monday night.

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