DENVER _ For the second straight season, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had his way with the Brooklyn Nets, scoring 37 points, pulling down 21 rebounds and stopping a couple of rim attempts by Nets center Jarrett Allen inside the final two minutes. But a Jokic turnover gave the Nets one last chance, and Caris LeVert scored on a floater in the lane with 0.3 seconds left to pull out a huge road win, 112-110, Friday night at Pepsi Center.
Once again, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson called an isolation play for LeVert with 22 seconds left. He let the clock run down and then drove past Gary Harris and rose up to hit the game-winner to give the Nets (6-6) their third straight win.
D'Angelo Russell led five Nets in double figures with 23 points, Allen had 18 points, nine rebounds and five blocks and LeVert scored 17.
In addition to Jokic, the Nuggets (9-3) got 16 points from Jamal Murray and 15 from Monte Morris.
It seemed a half-court three measuring 48 feet by Spencer Dinwiddie that gave the Nets a six-point lead going to the fourth period might provide a needed spark on a cold-shooting night. But the Nuggets opened the fourth with a 16-7 run with Jokic sitting on the bench, taking a 92-89 lead on a corner three by Malik Beasley with 7:18 left.
From there, the lead changed hands six times and there were six ties before Jokic's turnover allowed LeVert to give the Nets the win.
Riding a two-game winning streak that included two standout defensive performances in a 25-point win over the Sixers and a 22-point road victory over the Suns, the Nets faced another supreme defensive challenge against a hot Nuggets team led by budding stars Murray and Jokic. Jokic scored 41 against the Nets in Denver last season, but he was coming off a four-point game in which he only took one field-goal attempt.
Atkinson knew that couldn't last and said his team, especially Allen, would have their hands full. "He's a unique player," Atkinson said of Jokic, who leads the Nuggets in assists. "He's a 7-foot guy that plays on the perimeter and can go in the post, a very difficult guard for us.
