Michael Malone is running out of superlatives for Nikola Jokic, who the Denver Nuggets coach labelled "the best player in the world".

Jokic posted a triple-double of 37 points, 15 assists and 18 rebounds as the Nuggets claimed a 122-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. He is the first player in NBA history to finish with that stat line.

The Nuggets needed a last-gasp mid-range jumper from Michael Porter Jr. to clinch their fifth straight win, though Jokic's performance rightly stole the show.

It was Jokic's fourth straight triple-double. The Serbian is averaging 29.7 points per game this season, the fourth-highest PPG average in the NBA, while his 13.7 rebounds and 11.7 assists per game are league-highs.

Speaking to the press after the game, Malone quipped: I would assume that after tonight's performance, he'll only be fifth in the MVP voting.

"He just needs to do more for us, because clearly what he’s been doing hasn't been noticed by anyone on the outside of this Rocky Mountain empire.

"But, 37-15-18, three steels, the minutes that he played – 38 is a good number, I'm happy about that, we kept him under 40.

"On a serious note, just incredible. We're all running out of words, adjectives and ways to describe his greatness and his impact.

"The simple way to say it is he’s the best player in the world. That's the best way to say it, in my opinion."

Jokic has won the NBA's MVP award in three of the past four seasons.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, have now lost four of their last six games.

Kyrie Irving top-scored with 43 points, while Luka Doncic added 24, but it was not enough for Dallas to get back on track following a defeat to the Phoenix Suns.

Nikola Jokic accepted blame for the Denver Nuggets' dramatic collapse to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose late surge saw them win 119-116.

Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.

But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.

The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.

"We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.

"They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.

"Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."

The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.

The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.

"They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."

Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.

The Cavs are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James when it lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals. The club's best start was 8-0 in 1976.

The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season's tense opening-round playoff series won by the Cavs in seven games.

Banchero is expected to miss at least a month - and maybe longer - with a torn right oblique. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was on an early tear, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting hurt Wednesday.

Orlando's Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner had 17 points.

The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter, when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang all made 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead going to the fourth.

Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell's last 37 regular-season games since January.

Thunder roll past Blazers to stay unbeaten

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in 28 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained perfect with a 137-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jalen Williams added 22 points for the Thunder and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 13 off the bench as Oklahoma City improved to 5-0.

Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points and Deandre Ayton added 14.

After the Blazers came back from down 17 to tie the game at 68 at the half, Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 38-17 in the third quarter and Portland was never able to get back in it.

Wolves edge Nuggets in thriller

Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116.

Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.

Nikola Jokić had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and hit two free throws with 2:30 left to put Denver up 116-109, before Minnesota roared back. Jokic had a chance to tie the game at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds to go.

Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.

Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.

Christian Braun dunked over the 7-foot-1 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a taunting scream that egged Gobert into grabbing Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged, and both players got a technical.

Nikola Jokic was in jubilant mood after inspiring the Denver Nuggets' second straight overtime win in the NBA this season.

Coming off the back of an overtime victory against the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena, the Nuggets did it again to beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 on Tuesday.

Jokic's display saw him become the first player with multiple triple-doubles and multiple 40-point games within his first four matches of a season in NBA history. 

The Serbian finished the game with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists but, when speaking to local TV after the game, said that he was just happy to win.

"We were fighting," he said, when asked about how they ground out the victory.

"We're still not playing the way we're supposed to play, but we're finding a way to win games.

"I think that's the most important thing right now, just to find a way to win a game."

While Jokic made a triple-double, he was one of four players on the Nuggets roster who finished with 20 points or more and one of six who got into double figures.

One of those was Russell Westbrook, who made 22 points in 21 minutes on the court.

"Russ was really amazing, in the third or fourth quarter, I don't know, he kept us in the game. 

"He was really good, pushing the pace and made a couple of shots, he was really good today.

"We shared the ball, we found the open guys and that's how we scored a lot."

Westbrook is a relatively new arrival at the Nuggets, having only joined the team in July from the Los Angeles Clippers.

But according to Jokic, he has been a welcome addition to the roster.

"He's always talking, he's always lifting the guys up, he's always pushing the guys. He's a really good teammate and it's good to have him on our team."

Michael Malone praised the Denver Nuggets' character as they came from behind to defeat the Toronto Raptors for their first victory of the NBA season.

The Nuggets appeared set to begin the campaign with three successive losses, as they trailed by 15 points in the third quarter at Scotiabank Arena.

However, they battled back with Jamal Murray's last-gasp layup off a feed from Nikola Jokic, who registered 40 points and 10 rebounds, forcing overtime at 114-114, before going on to record a 127-125 win.

And Malone acknowledged the stakes were high following his side's difficult start to the season.

"It feels great to get a win after the first two [losses] at home," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.

"What I'm most proud about is the way we finished regulation [time], a 13-3 run. It shows the guys just never quit, they kept on fighting, they kept on competing, they kept on believing in themselves and their team-mates.

"In overtime, we got off to a great start; I thought the defence was really good. This felt like a playoff game in game three of the season."

On the game-tying play that forced overtime, he added: "We know that we have the best post-up player in the world [in Jokic]. Let's play through him; let him make the right read.

"And obviously him and Jamal kind of playing off of each other. Jamal makes a hell of a finish with the reverse layup. Everything worked out in our favour."

Nikola Jokic suggested a novel way to try and get the Denver Nuggets firing after a stuttering start to the NBA season continued against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Superstar Jokic put up a hugely impressive 41 points but was unable to help the Nuggets to victory as the Clippers ran out 109-104 victors at the Ball Arena on Saturday.

It means the Nuggets have started the season 0-2 and Jokic was asked what the team could do differently to get things going.

He jokingly replied: "Party every time when we go out."

Jokic would later follow up with a more substantive answer, though, saying: "I really don't know, my friend. 

"We just want to win. We just want to win one game and uh, hopefully, we can do that on this road.

"I think we're really struggling to score. We scored 104 points. In today's NBA, I think that’s not a really good number. Last game, we scored 89 [actually 87]. I don't even know."

The Nuggets will attempt to get on the win column when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

Nikola Jokic played a starring role as Serbia put their Olympic semifinal disappointment behind them to clinch the bronze medal with a 93-83 win over Germany.

Serbia gave up a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter against the United States on Thursday as they narrowly missed out on a place in the final, but they responded strongly to ensure they did not leave Paris empty-handed.

Jokic was dominant in that game, and he provided the spark once more on Saturday as he finished with a triple-double, getting 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Vasilije Micic matched Jokic's tally of 19, while Bogan Bogdanovic, the program's all-time leading scorer, added 16.

After a promising start to the Olympics by Germany, they have trailed off in recent matches, and they struggled to match the early pace set by Serbia as they fell 30-21 behind in the first quarter.

Though they matched Serbia evenly in the second quarter, any hopes of getting their hands on their first Olympic basketball medal soon faded in the third, with the 19-point gap proving too much for them to turn over.

Serbia claimed their first medal in the Olympic event since earning silver in Rio 2016.

The United States launched a thrilling comeback to reach the basketball gold medal match at the Paris Olympics with a 95-91 win over Serbia, as Stephen Curry starred with 36 points.

Team USA – who have won gold at the last four editions of the Olympics – looked set to miss out on Saturday's final when Serbia entered the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead.

NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 17 points and 11 assists for Serbia, who led by as many as 17 points at one stage in the first half.

Bogdan Bogdanovic had 20 points for Serbia while Aleksa Avramovic had 15, but Serbia were unable to hold on and avenge their 110-84 loss to the USA in the group stage.

Golden State Warriors star Curry carried the USA's offense for most of the game, though it was LeBron James' driving layup that tied the contest at 84-84 with under four minutes remaining.

The USA struggled defensively for long periods but finally began to put real pressure on Serbia late in the fourth quarter, and a missed 3-pointer from Ognjen Dobric with Serbia 86-84 up proved decisive.

Curry put the USA ahead with a 3-point jumper on a James assist with two minutes and 24 seconds left, then layups from both players stretched their lead as Serbia wilted. 

Twice Serbia drew within two points in the final minute, only for two Curry free throws to seal the USA's victory with eight seconds on the clock.

They will face hosts France – led by NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama – in Saturday's gold medal match, after Serbia face Germany for bronze.

James added 12 rebounds and 10 assists to his 16 points to finish with a triple-double, while USA team-mate Joel Embiid brought up 19 points.

Serbia completed the biggest comeback in Olympic basketball history as they defeated Australia 95-90 in overtime.

Nikola Jokic had 21 points as Serbia overturned a 24-point deficit in Tuesday's quarter-final tie.

Adding to his points tally, Jokic also registered 14 rebounds and eight assists. Team-mate Bogdan Bogdanovic was also on form and finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and six assists.

While Australia had led by 24 points after 13 minutes, a stellar third quarter from Serbia saw them rally to lead.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Australia edged the fourth quarter to force the first overtime of the competition at 78-78 but Jokic's Serbia proved too strong in OT.

They will face either the reigning Olympic champions United States or Brazil in the semis.

On the other side of the draw, Germany overcame Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece 76-63 to reach their first-ever Olympic semi-finals.

The World Cup champions remain unbeaten in the competition despite Antetokounmpo's 22 points.

Franz Wagner’s 20 points helped the Germans overturn a 12-point deficit to line up a semi-final with the winner of France versus Canada.

"I think it speaks to our maturity," Wagner said. "We even talked about it at half-time, not everything's going to go perfect all the time.

"So you kind of recover from that and adjust and react. I thought we did a good job of responding."

The United States continued their quest for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal after securing their spot in the quarter-finals with a comfortable win over South Sudan. 

Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo starred for the 16-time champions, registering a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds in their 103-86 triumph at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

The USA led from the first quarter and never looked back, with 14 of Adebayo's points coming before half-time as their star-studded bench maintained their advantage. 

For South Sudan, Nuni Omot led the way with a game-high 24 points, but with a team boasting 12 NBA All-Stars, four NBA MVPs and six NBA champions, it proved too much for the Bright Stars. 

Kevin Durant (14), Anthony Edwards (13), LeBron James (12), Devin Booker (10) and Derrick White all finished in double figures to ensure there was no repeat of their close encounter with their opponents prior to the Games. 

South Sudan led the United States by 16 points in their pre-tournament fixture, but narrowly avoided a huge upset in London as they emerged 101-100 victors. 

The United States will face winless Puerto Rico in their final group game this Saturday. 

Meanwhile, in the other Group C fixture, Nikola Jokic made Olympic history as he helped Serbia ease to their biggest win at the Games following a 107-66 triumph over Puerto Rico. 

Jokic finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists, becoming the first player in Olympic history to record at least 10 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists in a single game.

Filip Petrusev also played his part in the victory, with Serbia knowing they must beat South Sudan in their final group game to qualify for the knockout stages.

League MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder were both unanimous selections to the All-NBA first team.

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks were also named to the first team, which was revealed Wednesday.

Jokic, who has won three of the last four MVP awards, and Gilgeous-Alexander were both listed on all 99 ballots.

Doncic fell one vote shy of joining them, while Antetokounmpo received 88 first-place votes and Tatum garnered 65.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Los Angeles Lakers centre Anthony Davis were named to the second team.

The third team was made up of Lakers forward LeBron James, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton and Suns guard Devin Booker.

This is the 20th consecutive season James has been named to an All-NBA team since being included on the second team in his second season.

At 39 years old, he became the oldest All-NBA player in league history. He was also the youngest All-NBA selection as a 20-year-old back in 2004-05.

Jokic, who won the 2023-24 MVP award in a runaway with 79 of a possible 99 first-place votes, was named to the All-NBA first team for the fourth time to go with a pair of inclusions on the second team.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in MVP voting, was named to the first team for the second straight season.

Doncic made the first team for the fifth year in a row, while Tatum is on it for the third consecutive season.

Antetokounmpo has been on the first team each of the last six seasons after being on the second team the previous two years.

Mike Conley Jr. said his return had completed the Minnesota Timberwolves after they crushed the Denver Nuggets to force a Game 7 in the teams' Western Conference semifinal series.

The Nuggets had the chance to eliminate the Timberwolves at Target Center on Thursday after going 3-2 up in the series, but the hosts roared back to tie things up with a 115-70 rout.

Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting, with the Timberwolves' win the second-largest NBA Playoff victory by a team facing elimination in history.

Edwards put the team's improvement down to the return of guard Conley, who missed Game 5 after suffering from soreness in his right Achilles tendon.

Asked what had changed for Minnesota, Edwards said: "We got Mike Conley back. That was it."

Conley said: "Obviously I wanted to play the last game. I just couldn't move at all. Tonight it was a no-brainer. 

"I was going to try to find a way. We're just better when we're a complete team."

MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, who were stunned by a 20-0 first-quarter run from the third-seeded Timberwolves. 

Asked how Denver would look to forget about the loss, Jokic said: "I think we shouldn't.

"I think we need to let it sink in. It's a great loss. They destroyed us, and we should learn from it."

Anthony Edwards could only stand back and watch as MVP Nikola Jokic inspired the Denver Nuggets in their victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On the night he received the Michael Jordan Trophy after being named the NBA's MVP for the third time, Jokic scored 40 points and provided 13 assists in a 112-97 win.

It was a victory that put the reigning NBA champions within touching distance of the Western Conference finals.

And Edwards, who finished with 18 points and nine assists for Minnesota, could not even muster the energy to be angry.

He said: "I just laugh. That's all I can do.

"He's good, man. I think I said that after Game 1 when we won, and Game 2, he's the MVP. He's the best player in the NBA.

"He showed it the last three games, three games in a row. He was special tonight. I've got to give him his flowers. He was that guy tonight."

Denver coach Michael Malone said: "He did everything for us tonight, and it was fun to watch."

Jamal Murray chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets, though he was happy to hand responsibility to Jokic.

"If Jokic's scoring like that, there's no need to do anything special," Murray said.

"He's amazing, just the way he picks apart the game and reads the game and trusts his teammates.

"I'm guessing that for the big fella getting the trophy tonight probably motivated him a little bit. Just being at home was a lot of fun, the place was rocking, kind of felt the energy and he definitely had it going."

The Nuggets lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6.

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone quoted former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich after watching his team level their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday, saying: "Never underestimate the heart of a champion."

The Nuggets levelled their series with the Minnesota Timberwolves at 2-2 with a dominant road performance, triumphing 115-107 at Target Center.

Denver never trailed after taking a 23-22 lead on Aaron Gordon's three-point play near the end of the first quarter, stretching their advantage to as many as 18 points early in the third.

While Minnesota pulled within seven with just under two minutes remaining, they failed to make another basket as the Nuggets levelled things up ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday.

Gordon amassed 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting while NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 35 points, with 16 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

The reigning champions are now slight favourites to reach the NBA Finals as they prepare to host Game 5, leading Malone to hail their mentality. 

"What I found is Rudy T is right, man, 'never underestimate the heart of a champion'," Malone said, referring to Tomjanovich's infamous quote in the aftermath of Houston's 1995 championship.

"They were quick to write us off, but these guys, we won a championship a year ago. We went into Miami [in the Finals], won two games in a row. 

"This team has been tested time and time again, and we found a way to solve whatever's been thrown at us.

"This series is a long way from being over. We're not celebrating. It's 2-2, but what I found about our group is that they do believe in themselves. 

"More importantly, they believe in the man next to them. We have a group that is acting as you would hope a championship team would act."

Gordon echoed his coach's sentiments, saying: "I love it when people count us out.

"A lot of these guys have been counted out before in their careers. They've been the underdogs or the dark horse in their careers before. 

"So, I don't think it was anything new to the individuals. It was new to our collective, but I liked the challenge, and I'm glad we accepted it and put ourselves in a good position with home court."

Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray bounced back with 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 117-90 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 for the Nuggets, who cruised to an easy win on the road after dropping the first two games at home.

They are the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five of them have rallied to win, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in 2021.

Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.

Murray totalled just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting over the first two games but was 11 of 21 in this one.

Denver shot 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Gordon and Porter combining to hit 7 of 9.

Anthony Edwards was held in check with 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 for a Wolves team that suffered its first loss in seven playoff games.

Minnesota shot 10 of 33 from long range and fell behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.

Pacers rally to cut deficit to 2-1

Andrew Nembhard drilled a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points with six 3-pointers as the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 111-106 win over the banged-up New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicks lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Indianapolis. New York held a nine-point lead with 9:45 remaining but was unable to hold the lead with star guard Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury.

Nembhard scored all five of his points in the final minute, connecting on a long 3 as the shot clock expired to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.

Brunson missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left and finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting.

Donte DiVincenzo scored 35 points and was 7 for 11 on 3s, while Alec Burks, who came in having played just 1 minute in the playoffs, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby.

It’s unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday.,

Haliburton triggered Indiana’s comeback in the fourth quarter. He completed a three-point play and then made back-to-back layups to make it 98-96. After Brunson made a free throw, Pascal Siakam tied the score with a three-point play.

The teams traded the lead four more times, with Brunson’s 3 tying it at 106 with 42 seconds remaining.