DENVER – James Harden had 23 points and 16 assists, Norman Powell scored 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 on Saturday.

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

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

After Jokic separated a pair from the line, Harden made two more foul shots to make the score 107-104 and Jokic missed an off-balance 3-pointer.

Takeaways

Clippers: Harden 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 Zubac, who scored 24 points and 15 rebounds.

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

Key moment

Jokic presented Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon his MVP trophy in the Avalanche’s home opener two weeks ago, and MacKinnon returned the favor before tipoff Saturday. He pulled out the Michael Jordan Trophy while wearing a Jokic jersey and hugged the three-time MVP.

Key statistics

Denver hit just 7 of 38 shots from 3-point range in Thursday’s loss to Oklahoma City and missed 11 of 13 entering Saturday. The Nuggets made 12 of their next 20 shots from long range but missed their last two attempts.

Next

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

————

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba