Nikola Jokic had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to extend his triple-double streak to four games to start the season, and the host Denver Nuggets used a 29-2 run to start the third quarter and beat the winless New Orleans Pelicans 122-88 on Wednesday night.
Jokic has 168 career triple-doubles in the regular season, third on the all-time list behind Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson.
Jamal Murray scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter, Christian Braun also had 17 points and Aaron Gordon pulled down nine rebounds for Denver, which outscored New Orleans 39-11 in the third quarter.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 11 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 10 to lead the Nuggets’ reserves.
The Pelicans, who are one of three winless teams in the NBA, saw the return of Zion Williamson from a one-game absence, but he couldn’t make a difference against Denver. Jeremiah Fears led New Orleans with 21 points, Williamson had 11 and Yves Missi scored 10.
The Nuggets led by six at halftime but quickly took control in the third quarter. Jokic started it with a floating jumper, Cam Johnson and Gordon hit 3-pointers, and Braun made a driving layup to give Denver a 63-49 lead and force a Pelicans timeout.
The Nuggets continued the rally, with Jokic hitting a short jumper and feeding Johnson for another 3-pointer. Murray drained two from deep to cap 23 straight points and an 82-49 lead.
Jokic notched his triple-double when he assisted on Braun’s 3-pointer that increased the lead to 90-56.
Denver led by as much as 41 in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans missed 12 consecutive shots in the second quarter and fell behind by 18, but finished the half strong.
After Murray hit a layup to make it 53-35 with 3:05 left, Fears fed Herbert Jones for a 3-pointer, Trey Murphy III hit four free throws and one from deep and Missi drained a hook shot to cap a 12-0 run to end the first half and cut the Nuggets’ lead to 53-47.
