Denver Nuggets at San Antonio Spurs

Jokic, Murray rally Nuggets from 20-point deficit to beat Spurs 136-131 in Wembanyama's absence

San Antonio guard Stephon Castle had 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his third career triple-double.

With the Spurs trailing 132-129, Castle had a 3-pointer rattle off the rim with 20 seconds remaining. Murray sealed the victory with four straight free throws.

After trailing by 20 points early in the third quarter, Murray's 3-pointer gave Denver its first lead at 121-119 with 4:38 remaining. Murray's basket was the start of an 11-0 run.

Wembanyama was questionable due to right ankle soreness and ruled out after going through pregame warmups. He must play in 13 of San Antonio’s final 16 games for end-of-season award eligibility.

The Spurs are 10-5 without Wembanyama, who watched from the second row of the team’s bench. San Antonio lost for the first time in 22 games when holding a 20-point lead.

Denver outscored San Antonio 42-25 in the fourth quarter behind Murray, Jokic, Spencer Jones, Cam Johnson and Christian Braun.

Jones finished with 19 points, Johnson had 15 and Braun added 11.

De'Aaron Fox had 27 points and Devin Vassell scored 18 for San Antonio, which had won 16 of 17.

Up next Nuggets: At Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.

Spurs: At Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

The Spurs have won five straight games and 16 of their past 17 games.

San Antonio is 24-8 since the calendar turned to 2026 and undefeated during an 11-game stretch in February.

The Nuggets will play the second game of a back-to-back set on the heels of a 129-93 win over visiting Houston on Wednesday.

Jamal Murray led Denver with 30 points in the victory while Christian Braun had 19, Cameron Johnson added 17 and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic collected 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds.

Denver shot 55.2% from the floor and forced 15 turnovers while outscoring the Rockets by 30 points after halftime.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1