Jamal Murray scores Career High 55 Points, Nuggets beat Trail Blazers 132-121 for 8. Straight Victory

Denver (AP) -Jamal Murray scored a career high 55 points, Nikola Jokic had her 25th triple double this season, and Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 132-121 Wednesday night for their eighth equal victory.

Murray was 20 of 36 from the floor, including seven 3-pointers. It is the third most points in the franchise’s NBA story that draws only David Thompson’s 73-point games on April 9, 1978, and Jokics 56-Point’s efforts 7 December. In ABA, Spencer Haywood had a 59-point game for then Rockets on April 15, 1970.

Jokic had with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on an evening when the team celebrated Serbian heritage evening and handed out his bobble head.

Denver led with 23 points, only to see Portland cut it into single digits late in the second game between the teams in Denver in three nights. Nuggets won 146-117 Monday.

Anfee Simons led Portland with 26 points and Donovan Clingan had 17 points and 20 rebounds. Trail Blazers were without Deandre Ayton (strained calf), Scoot Henderson (sprained ankle) and Jerami Grant (sore knee).

Takeaways

Trail Blazers: Ayton’s left calf strain is evaluated in a month.

Nuggets: Nuggets lacked Michael Porter Jr. (Hamstring), Aaron Gordon (Calf), Peyton Watson (Knee) and Russell Westbrook (Hamstring).

Keying moment

Murray missed a free kick with less than a second left until the break, but Jokic was able to go down on the boards and press it for a 75-56 lead.

Key State

Denver had seven blocked shots, including four of Zeke Nnaji.

Up next

After the All-Star break, both teams play February 20. Nuggets hosts Charlotte and Trail Blazers hosts Los Angeles Lakers.

___

AP NBA: