The Denver Nuggets beаt the Toronto Raptors 113-104 on Wednesday night. Nikola Jokic scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Jamal Murray scored 20 points in his only regular season game north of the line.

Denver won its fifth game in a row and evened its road record at 8-8. Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Peyton Watson all scored 12 points.

With six assists, Jokic had the most for the Nuggets. In the first quarter, he passed the ball behind his back to Gordon.

Barnes scored 30 points, just two short of his career high, and grabbed 10 rebounds for Toronto. These guys scored 18 more points for the Raptors.

The Raptors had won five of the last seven home games against the Nuggets. The Raptors won their last home game, 125–110, on March 14 with a franchise-record 49-point first quarter. But they couldn’t do that again on Wednesday.

When Precious Achiuwa made a 3-pointer with 6:06 left in the fourth, the Raptors were down by 21 points. That was as close as they would get, though, as Jokic scored nine points in the last two minutes to seal the win.

Denver led 29–20 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, seven Toronto mistakes led to 10 points for Denver, which made the halftime lead 61–44.

The Nuggets didn’t make a single free throw in the first half, but Barnes scored 14 of Toronto’s 24 points in the second. The Raptors couldn’t keep up with the defending NBA champs, though.

Denver led 90–75 going into the fourth quarter thanks to Jokic’s 12 points and seven boards.

At the end of the game, Toronto had 26 assists, stopping a franchise-high five-game run of 30 or more assists.

What’s next?

To get nuggets, go to Brooklyn on Friday night.

Raptors: On Friday night, they’ll be in Philadelphia.