The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 103-100 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, avoiding straight losses.

The Nuggets wasted a double-digit lead against the Charlotte Hornets on December 23 when Jokic had a double-double of 29 points and 21 rebounds. And a similar scenario almost happened again on Sunday against the Clippers. The Nuggets led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but fell into a sudden scoring drought in Q3, scoring only five points in more than six minutes.

Their underperformance happened for a reason. The Nuggets were already missing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., two of their most-important offensive players, due to injuries. Aaron Gordon had to sit out the game as well, also due to injury, leaving almost every launching offense to Jokic.

While Jokic has the most complete offensive skills among big men, he will break down if he has to play both orchestrator and scorer for over 35 minutes on the floor.

And that's what happened in the third quarter. Jokic shot at 2-11 in field goals (FGs), missing all of his attempts outside the paint. The Clippers' defenders were reckless, double-teaming or even triple-teaming him because the rest of the team were only 4-16 in FGs. Monte Morris was the only one other than Jokic able to score points in the team. If it hadn't been for his 10 points, the Nuggets would have had to beat a much bigger trail in the last quarter.

However, it was a balanced game so while the Nuggets' shooters slowly shook off their cold spell, the Clippers began to miss open shots and easy points in Q4. They shot at 31.58 percent in FGs and 28.57 percent in 3-pointers, getting only 17 points in the quarter. Meanwhile, Will Barton and Austin Rivers both shared offensive duties with Jokic, who made his only 3-pointer of the game at 3:50 to put the Nuggets back on top without stepping down anymore.

Jokic dropped 26 points, 22 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets on Sunday night, becoming the first player to get at least 25 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in consecutive games since Charles Barkley in 1988. It was also Jokic's sixth 20+20 double-double, surpassing Marcus Camby to lead franchise history.

The Clippers showed great resilience at home despite the loss. The team were missing their ace Paul George, who had suffered an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear. Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris also did not play on Sunday, so the Clippers were without half of their perimeter offensive engine.

That might be why they let first-year rookie Brandon Boston Jr. take the last shot when they were trailing 103-100. The No. 51 selection of the 2021 Class averaged only 5.7 points in 13.3 minutes per game and had never started. But he shared a team-high 18 points with Eric Bledsoe in this game.

With George and Kawhi Leonard uncertain to return this season, the Clippers have every reason to change their priorities from trying to make a difference in the playoffs, to drilling young players.

LaVine returns to give Bulls third straight win

The Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 113-105 at United Center on Sunday to achieve their third straight win.

In his first game in 15 days, Zach LaVine was red hot, going 12-18 in FGs and 5-9 in 3-pointers to put down 32 points and five assists. He only missed one out of six attempts in the last quarter to get 12 points, making sure that the Bulls stood up to the Pacers' desperate counterattacks.

"I'm tired of getting COVID," LaVine said. "I feel like I just had it... But that's the world we're living in right now. We've got to play with it. Everybody in the league and the world is dealing with it right now, so I'm not doing a poor-me mentality."

After Sunday's victory, the Bulls reached 20 wins and rose to second in the Eastern Conference. It's the first time since 2014-15 that the team has won 20 of the first 30 games in the season. Had three games not been postponed because of COVID-19, their record could have been even better.

The Pacers said earlier this month that they were rebuilding and willing to negotiate trades over multiple key players, but have not made much noise since then. Theoretical popular targets like Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert continued to do solid work on the floor on Sunday.

Turner had 19 points and had a meaningful defensive presence, delivering two blocks and one steal. Sabonis got a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds while showing more orchestrating talents with five assists. LeVert scored a team-high 27 points and nine assists. With an average 24.7 points and seven assists in the past four games, he is a good choice for second scorer for a team that targets Conference Finals.

Rookie Josh Giddey gets peculiar stats for half a century

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 117-112 at Paycom Center on Sunday. The home team's first-year rookie guard Josh Giddey missed all eight of his FG attempts to get zero points, but still had a double-double of 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

The last time anyone in the NBA scored such peculiar stats was in 1971, when Norm Van Lier got zero points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists for the Cincinnati Royals against the Lakers.

As the sixth-overall selection of the 2021 Class, Giddey has started all 30 of his games for the Thunder, averaging 10.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists. His court vision seems to be too good for a 19-year-old. However, his 38.8-percent FG rate and 24.5-percent 3-point rate are a huge headache. When the Thunder beat the Clippers 104-103 on December 18, Giddey was one two-point field goal away from getting a triple-double with eight points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists.

Another player who often gets similar stats these days is Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. But he's an elite defender, as was Van Lier. Perhaps the Thunder should take that into consideration before deciding Giddey's direction.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Orlando Magic 83-93 Miami Heat

Toronto Raptors 99-144 Cleveland Cavaliers

Philadelphia 76ers 117-96 Washington Wizards

Memphis Grizzlies 127-102 Sacramento Kings

Detroit Pistons 109-144 San Antonio Spurs