Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, looks to pass the ball as San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
SAN ANTONIO — Nikola Jokic had 46 points and 10 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets spoiled Victor Wembanyama’s 21st birthday on Saturday, beating the San Antonio Spurs 122-111 in overtime.
Wembanyma finished with 20 points and 23 rebounds for San Antonio, but was scoreless and without a rebound in OT. Wembanyama has 57 double-doubles in 101 career games.
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The teams split the home-and-home series on consecutive nights. The Spurs won Friday’s game 113-110 when Wembanyama stole the ball from Jokic with four seconds remaining and Vassell scored on a fastbreak layup.
READ: NBA: Wembanyama wins battle of bigs as Spurs top Nuggets
THE JOKER DOES IT ALL. 🃏
▪️ 46 PTS
▪️ 10 AST
▪️ 9 REB
▪️ 2 BLK
▪️ 2 STL@nuggets pull out the OT W. pic.twitter.com/13V7Je2yBP— NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2025
Jokic made sure there were no such heroics Saturday, scoring nine points in the extra period.
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Michael Porter Jr. added 28 points and 10 rebounds for Denver.
Harrison Barnes scored 22 points and Devin Vassell 19 for San Antonio, which had won two straight.
Vassell missed a contested layup, but tipped in the rebound, to tie the game at 108 with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. Jokic missed a 19-footer over Wembanyama with two seconds remaining to close regulation.
Zach Collins and Russell Westbrook each received a technical foul in the first quarter after taunting one another, with Westbrook doing so from the bench.
Takeaways
Nuggets: Denver’s five-man bench accounted for 18 points and 21 rebounds. San Antonio’s reserves had 43 points.
Spurs: Julian Champagnie was 3 for 4 on 3-pointers in the two-game set against Denver.
READ: NBA: Nikola Jokic strikes again as Nuggets dispose of Hawks
Key moment
After stripping possession from Wembanyama, Jokic scored his 44th point on a layup to put Denver up 115-108 with 2:27 remaining in OT. Jokic had two rebounds and Westbrook one as the Nuggets put up four shots on the possession.
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Key stat
Wembanyama is averaging 30.6 points and 11.7 rebounds in his last nine games.
Up next
The Denver Nuggets host Boston on Tuesday. San Antonio opens a four-game trip in Chicago on Monday.
