PORTLAND, Ore. – Anfernee Simons hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 122-120 victory over Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.

Simons drove to the right, got past defender Russell Westbrook and sent the ball high over the glass as the horn sounded. He finished the game with 28 points and 10 assists.

Shaedon Sharpe scored 27 points for the Blazers, who didn’t play in six games. Deni Avdija added 19 points and Deandre Ayton had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Jokic had 34 points and eight assists for Denver. Jamal Murray added 24 points and 10 assists and Westbrook scored 19 points.

Takeaways

Nuggets: Denver struggled defensively against the NBA’s third-worst offense.

Blazers: Ayton was solid in his return after Portland’s starting center missed the previous two games due to illness.

Key moment

Denver trailed by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, but was able to take a two-point lead on Michael Porter Jr.’s dunk with just under a minute left. Simons and Sharpe each made two free throws to put Portland back on top before Jokic tied it with a layup with 16.8 seconds left.

Key statistics

Portland shot 46.4% compared to Denver’s 54%, but the Blazers got to the foul line more often and made five more free throws on the night. Portland made 16 3-point shots, Denver made 15.

Next

Nuggets: In New Orleans on Sunday.

Trail Blazers: At San Antonio on Saturday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba