INGLEWOOD, Calif. — James Harden scored 39 points — making all 13 of his free throws — and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame Nikola Jokic’s triple-double to beat the Denver Nuggets 126-122 on Sunday night.

Jokic finished the game with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season.

Harden narrowly missed his own triple-double, finishing the game with nine rebounds and 11 assists.

Norman Powell scored 28 points for the Clippers in his return after missing six games due to injury.

Harden hit three 3-pointers in the first half, giving him 3,000 career points.

The Clippers made three consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth period and led by seven points. Jokic hit a 3-pointer and fed Aaron Gordon for a dunk to bring the Nuggets within one point.

After the Clippers took a seven-point lead, Harden turned the ball over under pressure from Gordon in his comeback from injury. The Nuggets missed their first shot, got the offensive rebound and Christian Braun scored, leaving them trailing 123-121 with 19 seconds left.

The Nuggets opened the third with a 21-11 run and put the Clippers behind by 10. But Los Angeles rallied behind six 3-pointers – three each from Harden and Powell – to lead 92-90 heading into the fourth.

Takeaways

Nuggets: They’ve lost to the Clippers twice now.

Clippers: They held an 11-point lead twice in the first two quarters, but watched as Denver tied it at halftime. But they remained steady down the stretch, making 8 of 9 free throws.

Key moment

Jokic was 2 of 4 from the free throw line, missed a game-tying shot with nine seconds left and the Nuggets trailed by three points.

Key statistics

The Clippers made 17 3-point shots while the Nuggets attempted just 21 from long range.

Next

Nuggets host Golden State and Los Angeles host Portland in NBA Cup games on Tuesday night.

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