The defending champion Denver Nuggets have moved into sole possession of second place in the highly competitive Western Conference.
Behind a 35-point performance from Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-112 on Tuesday night (Feb. 20) at Target Center in Minnesota, USA, in their 2023-2024 NBA 텍사스홀덤사이트 regular season opener.
Denver, which improved to 48-21, moved into second place in the Western Conference, one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-20).
After leading by as many as 15 points at halftime, the Nuggets rallied to within 87-84 in the third quarter behind Anthony Edwards (30 points).
In the fourth quarter, back-to-back baskets by Mike Conley cut the deficit to 89-92.
Denver bounced back with 3-pointers from Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. and two Jermale Murray free throws with four seconds left to make it 115-112 and secure the win.
Minnesota, which was without key players Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert due to injury, fell to 47-22 and dropped to third place,
The Orlando Magic clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with a 112-92 win over the Charlotte Hornets behind a 21-point performance from Carmelo Anthony.
Orlando, which is fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 41-20 record, can still qualify for the playoffs even if it loses all of its remaining regular-season games, which will be contested by teams ranked seventh through 10th.
If the team finishes in the top six in the conference at the end of the regular season, it will make the playoffs.