With the victory, the Nuggets (49-24) concluded their five-game highway shuttle with a successful report at 3-2 and maintained their tempo atop the Western Conference.
Nikola Jokic used to be the megastar for the Nuggets within the recreation as he scored 31 issues, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed for seven assists.
The Nuggets took keep an eye on within the 3rd quarter with a 16-4 run spanning 3:07, turning a four-point deficit into a snappy, eight-point lead.
They most effective constructed from there, increasing the merit to 23 issues within the opening moments of the fourth quarter.
Washington (32-41), having a look to stay its hopes of qualifying for the Eastern Conference play-in alive, battled again to chop the deficit to ten issues halfway during the ultimate duration.
The final gasp used to be briefly squashed when Nuggets trainer Michael Malone installed starters Jokic and Jamal Murray — either one of whom he pulled previous within the quarter — and Denver went on a 9-2 run.
Murray completed with 17 issues, a game-high 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. added 21 issues — 18 of which got here on 6-of-9 capturing from 3-point vary — and grabbed seven rebounds.
Porter led 5 Nuggets with more than one made 3-pointers. Murray shot 3-of-6 from deep, whilst Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green every went 2-of-3 from past the arc.
Gordon completed with 12 issues and Green notched 11 off the bench.
Denver’s 15-of-32 edge from lengthy distance made the variation, because the Wizards shot 44-of-87 from the ground total — outpacing the Nuggets’ 42-of-83 — however had been simply 4-of-26 from out of doors. .
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 25 issues on 11-of-17 capturing from the ground. Deni Avdija added 16 issues and a team-high 8 rebounds. Washington got here into Wednesday’s contest, the second one leg of a back-to-back after shedding Tuesday in Orlando, 2.5 video games in the back of Chicago for the East’s final play-in berth.
(With inputs from Reuters)