Norman Powell scored 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over Denver 109-104 on Saturday despite 41 points for Nikola Jokic.
Powell sank a 3-pointer with 53.1 remaining to lift the Clippers level at 103-103, then James Harden made four free throws and Powell sank two more in the final 30.1 seconds to deliver the NBA victory over the host Nuggets.
“Just locking in, being aggressive, being what the team needed me to be,” Powell said. “Taking the shots that came to me.”
Harden finished with 23 points and 16 assists for the Clippers while Croatian center Ivica Zubac added 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic made a career-best seven 3-pointers, but the Serbian center missed a late game-tying attempt from beyond the arc.
He made 14-of-26 shots for the game, 7-of-12 from 3-point range, and sank 6-of-8 from the free throw line while adding nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Jamal Murray added 22 points for the Nuggets.
Powell, a 31-year-old guard who won an NBA title with Toronto in 2019, said the Clippers are confident even with Kawhi Leonard sidelined by a right knee injury.
“Same expectations as always,” Powell said. “The take is that we’ve got enough. We have the belief in ourselves to go out there and compete in games.
“When Kawhi comes back, we’re going to be ready to accept him as we always do and be clicking on all cylinders.
“We’ve got enough in this locker room to be competitive and be a top team in the West and we wholeheartedly believe that top to bottom.”
Celtics rally to win
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 points as reigning NBA champions Boston rallied late for a 124-118 victory at Detroit.
Cade Cunningham’s layup gave Detroit a 112-106 lead with 5:12 remaining but the Celtics closed the game with an 18-6 scoring run for the triumph, improving to 3-0.
Jrue Holiday made back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Boston level at 112-112 and Tatum’s two free throws with 1:05 remaining put the Celtics ahead to stay at 116-114.
Cunningham pulled the Pistons within 120-118 on a free throw with 11 seconds remaining but Brown and Tatum sank clutch free throws to seal victory and the Pistons dropped their third straight to start the season.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 3-0 start after a 135-116 triumph at Washington.
Jimmy Butler scored 26 points and Tyler Herro added 22 to lead the Miami Heat in a 114-106 victory at Charlotte. LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 27 points.
