Nikola Jokic finished with 40 points, including a 6-foot floater late in overtime, Christian Braun had 21 points, and the host Denver Nuggets ended San Antonio’s 11-game winning streak with a 136-134 win over the Spurs on Saturday.
Jokic, who finished with 13 assists, scored seven points in overtime to rally Denver to its eighth straight win and overcome a big game from Victor Wembanyama. The San Antonio big man had 34 points and 18 rebounds while going 16-for-17 from the foul line.
The 16 made free throws were a career high.
Jamal Murray had 15 points and 10 assists, Cam Johnson contributed 17 points, Aaron Gordon had 15 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 10 points for the Nuggets (50-28).
Stephon Castle had 20 points, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie scored 18 apiece, De’Aaron Fox contributed 14 points, Dylan Harper had 12 points and Keldon Johnson 10 points for the Spurs (59-19). San Antonio had won 27 of 29 entering Saturday.
Champagnie’s 3-pointer early in the overtime gave the Spurs a 127-126 lead, but Denver took over. Gordon dunked a lob from Braun, Johnson hit a three and Jokic drained an 11-footer that gave the Nuggets a 133-129 lead with a minute left.
Wembanyama’s layup cut it to one possession but Jokic’s short jumper with 10 seconds left sealed it.
San Antonio led by 11 early and 113-106 midway through the fourth quarter before the Nuggets rallied.
Murray made a three, Johnson scored a fastbreak layup and Jokic’s jumper made it 115-113. Fox missed at the other end and Murray drained one from deep to give the Nuggets their first lead since it was 3-0.
Vassell hit three free throws and a layup and Wembanyama made two foul shots with 1:39 left to give the Spurs a 122-116 lead. Johnson was fouled on a made 3-pointer and hit the free throw to complete the four-point play, and Vassell slammed home a lob from Wembanyama
Jokic hit two free throws, Fox missed a three and Gordon’s dunk with 6.2 seconds left in the fourth sent it to overtime.
Pistons 116, 76ers 93
Tobias Harris scored 19 points and Daniss Jenkins contributed 16 points and 14 assists as Detroit clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a road win over Philadelphia.
Jalen Duren chipped in with 16 points for Detroit (57-21), which will have home-court advantage in the East for the first time since 2007. The Pistons improved to 8-2 since Cade Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung, although the team’s star guard is expected to return late in the regular season.
Philadelphia (43-35), which entered with eight wins in its last 11 games, shot just 34.2% in the second half and managed only 33 points after intermission. Tyrese Maxey (23 points) and Paul George (20) were the top scorers for the Sixers, who played without Joel Embiid in the second half of a back-to-back.
Nine different players scored for Detroit in the first quarter as the visitors led 41-31 after 12 minutes. The Pistons’ bench fueled a 10-4 run to close the period, as Marcus Sasser, Paul Reed and Caris LeVert accounted for all Detroit’s points during that stretch.
Heat 152, Wizards 136
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 32 points, and Kel’el Ware matched his career high of seven blocks, leading host Miami to a win.
The Heat (41-37) also got 24 points and a game-high 19 rebounds from Ware. Miami led by as many as 35 points before taking out its starters.
Washington, which has lost 21 of its past 22 games, was led by Will Riley’s 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting. The Wizards, who have the NBA’s worst record at 17-60, also got 20 points from Sharife Cooper and 19 points from Jaden Hardy.
Bam Adebayo, who burned Washington for 83 points on March 10 – the second-greatest total in NBA history – was held to 14 points this time. The Heat are just 4-8 since he had his 83-point game.
Norman Powell, who leads Miami in scoring (22.1), missed his second straight game due to illness and fourth in a row overall.