THE visiting Denver Nuggets used one of the Phoenix Suns’ primary weapons against them Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila), riding balanced scoring to a 110-98 victory over the defending Western Conference champions on opening night.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic led six players in double figures with 27 points for the Nuggets, who were swept by the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals last year.
Chris Paul had 15 points and a game-high 10 assists for the Suns, who were outshot 53.0 percent to 41.4 percent.
After Phoenix dominated the second quarter to take a 58-51 lead into halftime, Denver held the upper hand throughout most of the second half. The Nuggets led by as many as 11 in the third period and 85-82 at quarter’s end before newcomer Jeff Green bombed in consecutive 3-pointers to give the visitors some breathing room early in the final period.
The Suns trailed by nine after a Mikal Bridges hoop with 5:45 to play, then held the Nuggets scoreless for the next three minutes. But the hosts also failed to score, missing five straight shots and a pair of free throws while mixing in a turnover, and when Will Barton ended the dual drought with a 3-pointer with 2:45 to go, Denver was in command at 105-93.
Jokic hit 13 of his 22 shots and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Nuggets, who are expected to play most, if not all, of the season without high-scoring guard Jamal Murray, out following knee surgery.
In other games, it was the Jazz 107; Thunder 86; Sixers 117, Pelicans 97; Kings 124, Blazers 121; Spurs 123, Magic 97; Wolves 124, Rockets 106; Wizards 98, Raptors 83; Bulls 94, Pistons 88; Grizzlies 132, Cavs 121; Knicks 138, Celtics 134; and Hornets 123, Pacers 122.
Jazz 107, Thunder 86
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22, Jordan Clarkson added 18 off the bench and Rudy Gobert compiled 21 rebounds and 16 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
All-Star Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz’s leading scorer last year, struggled from the field while scoring 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting in the two teams’ season-opening game.
Mitchell did score 12 points in the third quarter when the Jazz blew the game open.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 18 points. He only hit 1 of 7 3-pointers as the Thunder shot just 37.4 percent overall and 20 percent from beyond the arc. Darius Bazley (15 points) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (10 points) were the only other Oklahoma City players in double figures.
Sixers 117, Pelicans 97
Joel Embiid scored 22 points and Tobias Harris had a double-double as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers pulled away from the New Orleans Pelicans in the season opener for a pair of short-handed teams.
Harris had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Furkan Korkmaz scored 18 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Sixers outscored the Pelicans 36-27 in the final period.
Sixers guard Ben Simmons was serving a one-game suspension imposed by coach Doc Rivers on Tuesday for conduct detrimental to the team. Tyrese Maxey started in his place and scored 20, while Georges Niang added 11 and Seth Curry had 10 for Philadelphia. — Reuters
