By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored 23 points in the first half of his 65th game to become NBA award eligible and the Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-118 on Sunday night to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
Denver had seven players score in double figures, including Julian Strawther with 25 points and Jonas Valanciunas, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points to lead San Antonio, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Stephon Castle added 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in his return from a two-game absence due to left foot soreness.
Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama, who reached award eligibility in his previous game, sat out as he recovers from a left rib contusion.
Jokic sat out the second half after going 7 for 12 from the field, with eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 18 minutes, 15 seconds.
Jokic was listed as questionable with an injured right wrist, but entered the finale having played in 64 games.
The NBA requires players to participate in 65 games to be eligible for MVP, All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year honors. The NBA allows two exemptions of 15 to 19:59 minutes played to count as an official game. Jokic had one exemption remaining.
Denver (54-28) will host No. 6 Minnesota (48-33) in the opening round of the playoffs.
San Antonio, which matched the third-most victories in franchise history after going 62-20, will play the seventh seed, which will be determined by the winner of the first play-in game.
Denver went on a 22-0 run two minutes into the second quarter, holding San Antonio scoreless for 8:45 in building a 63-40 lead. Jokic had 11 points and Curtis Jones added 10 in the quarter. Jones finished with 13 points.
Spurs rookie Carter Bryant had 13 points, including a dunk over Jokic, along with five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Paul Reed finished with 26 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks and Tobias Harris scored 24 points in limited minutes, propelling the Eastern Conference’s top seeded Detroit Pistons past the Indiana Pacers, 133-121.
Reed was 11 of 11 from the field and made all four of his free-throw attempts on a night the Pistons shot nearly 70% from the field and from 3-point range in the first half. Harris was 9 of 12 from the field and 4 of 4 on 3s. Cade Cunningham flirted with a triple-double in the first half before finishing with seven points, eight rebounds and 14 assists.
The Pistons have won three straight and six of seven and posted their highest first-half scoring total of the season with 81 points. Detroit earned its 60th victory for the third time in franchise history and the first time since 2005-06.
Obi Toppin and Quenton Jackson each scored 21 points to lead the Pacers, who closed the season with 19 wins — the lowest total in the franchise’s NBA history.
Before the game, All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton thanked fans for their support during a trying season, one in which he did not play because of the torn Achilles tendon he suffered early in Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals. He has participated recently in five-on-five workouts, has been shooting during pregame warmups and is on track to return next season.
The Pacers proved no match for Detroit, which wanted to build momentum heading into the postseason. And it didn’t take long for the Pistons to pull away.
They took a 21-11 lead then used second quarter runs of 13-0 and 9-0 to take an 81-63 halftime lead before pulling out to a 90-66 lead early in the third.
The game was marred late when Pacers forward Jalen Slawson was ejected following a blindside collision with Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart, which resulted in a shouting match between the coaching staffs.
