SAN FRANCISCO – Nikola Jokic posted his 18th triple-double of the season to lead reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) champions the Denver Nuggets to a 119-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Feb 25.

The 29-year-old Serbian centre, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), had 32 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists plus four steals while Jamal Murray added 27 points for the Nuggets.

He said: “We had three losses before All-Star break now we have three wins. It’s how the game is, a game of runs.

“In a season, you have a good period, bad period, you want to have a longer good period than bad and a short bad period. I think we are just going in the right direction. That is the most important thing.”

Klay Thompson came off the bench at Chase Centre to lead the Warriors with 23 points but none in the second half, while Stephen Curry added 20 in the match-up of the past two NBA title winners.

“They are literally the Warriors. They are champions. They are a tough team to beat. But 103 points in this arena is really good for our defence,” Jokic said.

It was Jokic’s third career game with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists – passing Wilt Chamberlain for the second most in NBA history behind Oscar Robertson (11). It was also his sixth career game with 15 rebounds and 15 assists to pass Magic Johnson for fourth on the all-time list.

Jokic, who hit 13 of 24 shots from the floor, also became the first NBA player with 14 rebounds and 14 assists in three consecutive games.

Thompson had 16 points in the first quarter on four-of-six three-point shooting, but the Nuggets (39-19) closed the second quarter on a 14-0 run to equalise at 61-61 at half-time, then reeled off a 14-0 run early in the third quarter to seize command.

Said Nuggets coach Michael Malone: “I felt for the first quarter and a half they were the aggressor, they had us on our heels and we were reacting to everything they did.

“For us to close out 14-0 and then to start the third 14-4, we kind of flipped the switch and we became the aggressor on both ends and stopped thinking and started playing with an attack mindset and an aggressive mindset, and that’s when we’re at our best.”

Jokic added: “That run 14-0 at the end of the second quarter when we got the game back into control, and we went up 10 points in the third quarter, I think that stretch helped us take control and we controlled the game the whole way.”

It was Denver’s seventh consecutive triumph in games against Golden State (29-27) and 10th in their past 11 match-ups.

Over at the Wells Fargo Centre, Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and passed off nine assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks’ 119-98 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers.

New Bucks coach Doc Rivers collected a victory over his former club after the 76ers fired him last May. Milwaukee hired Rivers in January to replace Adrian Griffin.

“It was awesome. I had three good years here. I enjoyed my stay. This was good. There were a couple hilarious comments,” Rivers said of his return.

Damian Lillard added 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Malik Beasley added 20 points as the Bucks hit 43 of 79 shots from the floor (54.4 per cent) and kept the Sixers to 36-of-97 (37.1 per cent) shooting.

Milwaukee seized a 69-48 half-time lead and stayed in command to the finish despite some second-half stumbles.

“We came out and played hard in the first two quarters. In the third quarter, we were a little bit sloppy. But going into the fourth quarter, I think we did our best job just finding one another, making the right plays offensively,” two-time MVP Antetokounmpo said.

The Sixers, playing without injured reigning MVP Joel Embiid, had 24 points from Tyrese Maxey.

At the Toyota Centre, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points as the Thunder won their fifth consecutive game, beating the hosts Houston Rockets 123-110 to grab a share of the Western Conference lead with the Minnesota Kings at 40-17.

Elsewhere, Grayson Allen scored 24 points and Kevin Durant added 22 to help the Phoenix Suns defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 123-113 at Footprint Centre. LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, while Anthony Davis had 22 points and 14 rebounds.

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, the Clippers were outgunned 123-107 by the Sacramento Kings, with De’Aaron Fox leading the way for the visitors with 33 points. AFP