Knights power past Penguins for 4th straight victory

Nikola Jokic sat in front of his locker, calmly scrolling through his phone, seemingly unimpressed that 30 minutes earlier he made NBA history. The three-time NBA MVP had the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double in the Denver Nuggets’ 149-141 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. Jokic had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists. Said Jokic: “It’s not supposed go that way.",” Jokic said. “I was talking to (Aaron Gordon) and he said to me, ‘That was a quiet 30 points.’ I didn’t do anything special, just seemed like everyone was in flow.” Jokic tied his franchise record with his 29th triple-double of the season and has 149 in his career.

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Phoenix Suns 149-141 in overtime Friday night after losing a 21-point lead.

Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Phoenix Suns 149-141 in overtime Friday night after losing a 21-point lead. Jokic became the first NBA player with a triple-double of at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists. He tied his own team record with his 29th triple-double of the season, stretching his career total to 149. Aaron Gordon made a career-high seven 3-pointers and had 27 points for Denver. Kevin Durant scored 29 points for Phoenix, hitting a 3-pointer at regulation buzzer to send it into overtime. Devin Booker led Phoenix with 34 points. On Tuesday night at home, the Suns overcame a 23-point deficit to beat the Clippers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Aliaksei Protas had two goals and an assist in the third period to key the Washington Capitals rallying to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Friday night, extending their winning streak to three games.

James Harden scored 27 points, Kawhi Leonard added 20 and the Los Angeles Clippers held off the New York Knicks 105-95. The win helped keep the Clippers from dropping out of playoff position in the West. The Knicks, who are third in the East, lost their third in a row. They played without Jalen Brunson, who sprained his ankle in an overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday and is out at least two weeks. Karl-Anthony Towns led New York with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Brayden Schenn scored twice to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Schenn scored his second on a wrist shot with 1:47 left in the third period to put the Blues up 4-2. Zachary Bolduc and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 20 saves. Sam Colangelo, Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn had goals for the Ducks. Lukas Dostal stopped 18 shots.

Kiefer Sherwood scored late in the third period, Kevin Lankinen stopped 37 shots and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1. Elias Pettersson opened the scoring for the Canucks on a power play midway through the first period to snap a 15-game scoring drought, and Teddy Blueger added an empty-netter in the final minute. Defenseman Filip Hronek had two assists. Vancouver won its second straight and third in five games to move one point ahead of Calgary for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber tied the score with a power-play goal at 7:12 of the third period, and Filip Gustavsson had 17 saves. The Wild snapped a two-game win streak.

Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves for his 15th career shutout and second this season, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0. Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist, while Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won four straight. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who lost their fourth straight and have dropped eight of their last nine.

Zach LaVine scored 36 points and the Kings beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-109  in De’Aaron Fox’s first game as a visitor in Sacramento. Fox faced his original team for the first time since being traded to the Spurs last month in a three-team deal that brough LaVine to Sacramento. But it was LaVine who shined by scoring 16 points to break the game open in the second quarter on the way to his sixth straight game with at least 20 points. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 25 points.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Payton Verhulst added 16 points and No. 10 Oklahoma battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 12 Kentucky 69-65 on Friday and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.

Mike Conley, Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 15 points each and the Minnesota beat the Miami Heat 106-104 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory. Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle finished with 13 each. Edwards, who averages 27.5 points per game, attempted a season-low 10 shots and made four. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was Minnesota’s seventh double-figure scorer with 12 points. Bam Adebayo’s 3-point attempt for Miami at buzzer bounced off the rim. Adebayo had 29 points and 13 rebounds. Tyler Herro added 22 points.

The Athletics will play in Northern California for at least the next three seasons. They will also represent their future home in Las Vegas and brought four of their star players to drive home that point. The team announced a three-year agreement Friday with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as its official travel partner. Players will wear a patch with Las Vegas’ official logo on their left sleeves beginning in the regular season.

Lauren Betts finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks, and Gabriela Jaquez added 23 points and nine rebounds as No. 4 UCLA reached the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals with an 85-74 victory over Nebraska. Kiki Rice had 14 points and nine assists to help the Bruins rebound from last weekend’s loss to crosstown rival Southern California. UCLA will face No. 13 Ohio State, a 60-59 winner over three-time defending tourney champ Iowa, the No. 11 seed Nebraska played its third game in three days after starting play as the No. 10 seed. Britt Prince had 24 points to lead the Cornhuskers.

Aaron Wiggins scored 30 points, Jaylin Williams had his first career triple-double, and the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 107-89 with MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench. Gilgeous-Alexander was held out for rest, missing a game for just the second time this season. The Thunder were also without Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. They still had more than enough to win their sixth straight game. Williams finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Scoot Henderson scored 22 points and Shaedon Sharpe added 19 for the Blazers.

Immanuel Quickley scored a season-high 34 points and the Toronto Raptors overcame a dominant rebounding effort by Walker Kessler to beat the Utah Jazz 118-109. Quickley added five rebounds, five assists, and three steals in the Raptors’ third straight win. Scottie Barnes had 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Kessler led the Jazz with 18 points while setting career highs with 25 rebounds and eight blocks. Keyonte George also scored 18 points for the Jazz. Utah, last in the Western Conference, suffered its fourth straight loss.