Jokic stars as Nuggets escape Wolves; Mavericks trounce Spurs

LOS ANGELES – Nikola Jokic scored 35 points as the Denver Nuggets held off a second-half rally by the Minnesota Timberwolves to record a 115-112 victory over their Western Conference rivals on Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time).

Serbian star Jokic shepherded Denver over the line after Minnesota erased an 18-point second-quarter deficit to seriously rattle the reigning NBA champions.

Minnesota, missing the injured Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, had a last-gasp attempt to force overtime only for Anthony Edwards' 3-point attempt to bounce off the rim.

Denver move into second place in the Western Conference with a 48-21 record.

Oklahoma City Thunder leads the standings at 47-20, while Minnesota remains firmly in the hunt in third at 47-22.

The Timberwolves came roaring back into the game after a third-quarter shooting spree that saw them outscore Denver 29-17 thanks to 14 points from Edwards, who finished with 30 on the night.

But defensive adjustments from Denver slowed Edwards' scoring rate in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets held on.

"We threw an extra body at him," Denver coach Michael Malone said of his fourth-quarter tactical tweak to stymie Edwards.

"One guy trying to guard Anthony Edwards is a challenge for anyone in the NBA so we started throwing bodies at him to get the ball out of his hands."

Kyrie Irving finished with 28 points while Luka Doncic bagged his 18th triple double of the season as the Dallas Mavericks overpowered the San Antonio Spurs, 113-107, in a Texas derby.

Dallas improve to 40-29 to leave them in seventh place in the Western Conference, just outside the automatic playoff places heading into the final month of the regular season.

Doncic finished with 18 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds to help drive Dallas to a second straight victory.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd admitted his team had been forced to grind out the win despite not playing their best.

"It does count as a W. Not all wins are pretty," Kidd said. "We relied on our defense to help us get this win."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said his team — who are propping up the Western Conference with a 15-54 record — paid the price for making too many turnovers.

"We outrebounded them,