Jamal Murray had a huge opening stretch en route to 34 points and Nikola Jokic joined the production with 28 points and 11 assists as the Denver Nuggets defeated the host Charlotte Hornets 115-106 on Sunday night.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had 14 points and Peyton Watson added 10 as the Nuggets improved to 11-2 in road games. They’ve won 10 straight away from home, aided by shooting 51.8% from the field against Charlotte.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 24 points, Brandon Miller posted 17, KJ Simpson poured in 16 and Kon Knueppel chipped in with 14. Liam McNeeley contributed 13 off the bench for the Hornets, who shot 44.7% from the field and have lost three of their last four games.
The Hornets played without LaMelo Ball, who suffered a left ankle injury Friday night in Toronto, so Simpson moved into the starting lineup.
Murray made 14 of 25 shots from the field, though he was 2-for-9 on 3-pointers. Seven Denver players made at least one 3-point shot.
Jokic finished 11-for-16 shooting from the field with four 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds.
Charlotte took more than half of its shots from 3-point range but couldn’t overcome the combined 4-for-24 long-range shooting by Bridges, Simpson and Knueppel.
Denver appeared safe with a 94-81 lead with less than 10 minutes to play. Charlotte closed within 96-90 before Hardaway made a pair of free throws, Cameron Johnson sank a foul shot and Murray scored on a drive to restore a double-digit margin. It became an 8-0 run on Jokic’s 3-pointer.
Murray had 23 points 11 1/2 minutes into the game. The teams raced to a 34-all score through the first quarter.
Denver had the largest first-half lead at eight, but the Hornets held a 58-57 advantage at the break. Charlotte connected on nine 3-pointers in the first half.
