WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Brooklyn Nets withstood a triple-double by Nikola Jokic to edge the Denver Nuggets 122-120, while the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-108 on Sunday.
Jokic contributed 35 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists for his league-leading 27th triple-double of the season, while missing a jumper with five seconds remaining that would have given the Nuggets the lead.
Mikal Bridges scored 25 points for Brooklyn, which has won five of its last six games. Nic Claxton had 20 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie added 15 points each.
Down by eight points at the intermission, the Nets fought back to take an 80-77 lead on Bridges' jumper midway through the third quarter and stretched their advantage to 98-87 going into the fourth quarter.
Joe Harris' 3-pointer gave the Nets a 109-94 advantage with 8:11 left, which was their biggest lead up to that point. But the Nuggets pulled within 116-110 with 4:41 remaining.
Denver continued their comeback effort and got within 121-120 with 41.6 seconds remaining, but Jokic missed the potential go-ahead shot.
The Nuggets fouled Bridges with 1.8 seconds remaining and he made one of two free throws, while Jokic's jumper at the buzzer fell short.
Darius Garland had 28 points, Donovan Mitchell added 23 in Cleveland's win.
The Hornets led 89-81 heading into the fourth quarter following a strong third quarter from Terry Rozier, who had 13 points during the stretch.
But the Cavaliers came back into contention afterwards and took the lead with 5:41 remaining on Evan Mobley's dunk.
Charlotte had a chance to tie the game with 2:43 left to play when Nick Richards scored on a dunk and was fouled, but the center missed the free throw.
Mitchell scored on a jumper to put the Cavaliers up by three with 44 seconds left. After Rozier missed a tying 3-pointer at the other end, Garland made it a two-possession game by making one of two free throws. The Cavaliers' win was assured following Rozier's airball later on.
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid's 34 points led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-93 victory over the Washington Wizards, Trey Murphy III scored a career-high 41 points and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 127-110, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-90, and the New York Knicks snapped their three-game losing streak by upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers 112-108. ■
