The Denver Nuggets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Friday, to secure their second straight win and continue to lead the Western Conference.

Though the Nuggets hosted the Los Angeles Clippers 24 hours ago, that victory came in such an easy way that the home team's players didn't seem tired at all playing the Cavaliers back to back.

Nikola Jokic dropped a triple-double of 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets. Both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are great defenders as big men, but coach J.B. Bickerstaff still had them and other Cavaliers double-team Jokic when he had the ball and drove toward the rim.

The cost of doing so was watching the rest of the Nuggets shoot 14-for-31 at the 3-point line and six of them score double-digit points. However, when Allen tried to guard Jokic by himself, Jokic punished him hard by going 3-for-4 from downtown and 7-for-13 in the paint.

Jokic's highlights on Friday night was more than offensive dominance. Despite his size and slow speed, Jokic often closed out in guarding screen plays. As a seven-footer with a keen reading of the opponents' passing tendencies, he deflected 3.5 passes per game and caused a lot of trouble for the Cavaliers' star point guard Darius Garland.

The Cavaliers rested their best scorer Donovan Mitchell in Friday's game. They counted on their bench squad to outperform their Nuggets' counterparts and Mobley's exploiting of a mismatch on offense to hold the competition close in the first half. However, as Bones Hyland and Bruce Brown began to find their offensive form back in the second half, the Cavaliers lost their edge off the bench.

Neither did the Nuggets leave any mismatch for Mobley to make use of from the third quarter. He could shoot over the heads of Brown or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope thanks to his height advantage, but when Mobley was guarded by Aaron Gordon, it was extremely difficult for Mobley to approach the paint.

Most of the Cavaliers' offensive productions in the second half came from Caris LeVert and Garland. LeVert had 22 points with a good efficiency of shooting 8-for-13 from the field, but he lacked connection with other teammates as usual. Garland missed 12 of his 20 field goals (FGs). He still needs to work on how to switch more smoothly between orchestrating and scoring by himself.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Chicago Bulls 126-112 Philadelphia 76ers

Zach LaVine has been under a lot of criticism due to his poor performance since he returned from injury, but he made the best response by draining 11 triples for the Bulls at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday night. Having scored season-high 41 points, LaVine led the Bulls to claim their second consecutive win.

As the 76ers' franchise center Joel Embiid sat out Friday's game, Nikola Vucevic dominated the paint for the Bulls. Not only did he go 5-for-5 under the rim to score 19 points and 18 rebounds, Vucevic also delivered 10 assists, continuing to play like an offensive pillar for the second game a row. Setting up offense around him seemed to have become the new winning formula for the Bulls.

Brooklyn Nets 108-102 New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans missed their star duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram because of injuries at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday, but they made Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving work hard to get every point. The super scoring pair combined to shoot 16-for-48 from the field.

Nonetheless, even the Pelicans' tough defense couldn’t freeze Durant and Irving for all 48 minutes. Durant exploded to get 12 points in the third quarter for the Nets to lead 35-21 in the third quarter. Irving scored 10 points the fourth period, including having five points in 29 seconds during the final two minutes to put the Nets on a safe six-point lead (106-100).

Charlotte Hornets 138-109 Milwaukee Bucks

The competition at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday night was over after the first quarter during which the Hornets led 51-28. Terry Rozier III, LaMelo Ball, P.J. Washington and JT Thor combined to shoot 20-for-41 behind the arc. Rozier III got season-high 39 points while the Hornets set a new franchise record for scoring 84 points in the first half.

The Bucks failed to extend their winning streak to three games and dropped behind the Nets to rank third in the Eastern Conference. Giannis Antetokounmpo only shot seven FGs and missed five of them to get only nine points. The last time he failed to reach 10 points in an NBA game was 617 days ago.

Portland Trail Blazers 99-108 Indiana Pacers

New York Knicks 112-108 Toronto Raptors

Washington Wizards 110-127 Oklahoma City Thunder

Detroit Pistons 109-121 San Antonio Spurs

Los Angeles Clippers 115-128 Minnesota Timberwolves

Miami Heat 104-96 Phoenix Suns

Atlanta Hawks 114-130 Los Angeles Lakers