The Clippers returned home with a 2-2 record after four games, and despite all the hard work it took to achieve those results, they had to compete against one of the NBA’s best talents: Denver’s supernatural center Nikola Jokic .

So the challenge for coach Tyronn Lue and his team’s stingy defense Sunday night was to find a way to deal with Jokic, who was averaging a triple-double of 29.7 points per game (fourth-best in the league) and 13 .1 rebounds went into the game (first in the league) and 10.6 assists (second best in the league).

The Clippers couldn’t stop Jokic from delivering another triple-double, but LA withstood the MVP’s dominance and took a 126-122 thanks to the all-around play of James Harden and the return of Norman Powell and the offense he brought with him -Victory over Denver with him.

It was an NBA milestone night for Harden, who had 39 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Going 6-for-15 from three-point range, Harden has made 3,004 three-pointers over his career, becoming only the second player in NBA history to make more than 3,000 three-pointers. Golden State’s Stephen Curry (3,810) has the most in league history.

To make the night at the Intuit Dome even better, it was Harden’s two free throws with 8.6 seconds left that sealed the deal for the Clippers and allowed them to beat the Nuggets for the second time this season.

After missing nearly two weeks and six games with a left hamstring injury, Powell had 28 points.

In many ways, it was just another typical night for Jokic, who posted 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.

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Kevin Porter Jr., the Clippers’ backup point guard, was sidelined with a sprained ankle. Lue said “it could be” when asked if Porter could be out for a while. “I know he’s out tonight. We’ll know more tomorrow when we do some testing.” Porter is averaging 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 18.7 minutes per game. Lue was asked if the Clippers had expected at the start of the season that Kawhi Leonard would miss the first 22 games of the season with a right knee injury. “No, I didn’t expect that,” Lue said.