LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Michael Porter Jr. scored 30 points and had 15 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 132-126. Nikola Jokic added 25 points and 11 assists. Jerami Grant finished with 22 points. Two days after posting a career-high 37 points in Denver’s win over Oklahoma City Porter stayed hot, scoring 10 of the Nuggets’ first 16 points against San Antonio. San Antonio, which started the day two games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the West, dropped to 2-2 since the restart. Derrick White had 23 points and seven assists.
Games Thursday - All in Florida
New Orleans at Sacramento, 11:30 a.m.
Indiana at Phoenix, 2 p.m.
Miami at Milwaukee, 2 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.
Portland at Denver, 6 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Houston, 7 p.m.
Elsewhere in hoop action Wednesday:
— The Utah Jazz kept the Memphis Grizzlies winless in the NBA bubble with a 124-115 victory. Joe Ingles scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Mike Conley had 23 points and seven assists against his former team as the Jazz improved to 2-2 in the seeding round and nudged ahead of Houston for the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings. Dillon Brooks scored 23 points, while Grayson Allen had a career-high 20 points and six 3-pointers as the Grizzlies dropped to 0-4 in the seeding round.
— Jaylen Brown stayed hot with 21 points on five 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Brooklyn Nets 149-115 without All-Star point guard Kemba Walker. Jayson Tatum added 19 points, and Gordon Hayward and Robert Williams each had 18 points for the Celtics, who posted a season high in points and improved to 2-2 in Orlando. Boston shot 20 of 39 from 3-point range. Jeremiah Martin had 20 points and Joe Harris had 14 for the Nets.
— Fred VanVleet had 21 points and 10 assists, and the Toronto Raptors held on to beat the Orlando Magic 109-99. Pascal Siakam added 15 points and Kyle Lowry finished with eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Toronto has won its last seven dating back to before the hiatus and three straight games since the restart. The Magic missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot following Washington’s loss to Philadelphia earlier Wednesday. But they maintained their 7 1/2-game lead over the Wizards for the East’s eighth seed with four seeding games to play.
— Joel Embiid had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers held on to beat the Washington Wizards 107-98 on Wednesday despite losing two-time All-Star Ben Simmons to a knee injury in the third quarter.
— Chris Paul had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 105-86 victory over the poor-shooting Los Angeles Lakers. Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points and Steven Adams had 18 for the Thunder, who never trailed in their first win over the Lakers in four meetings this season. LeBron James had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who had another possibly concerning offensive performance while dropping to 2-2 in the bubble. The Lakers never held a lead for the first time all season.