DENVER — Jusuf Nurkic scored all of his season-high 17 points in the second half and the Denver Nuggets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Washington Wizards, 116-100, on Saturday night.
Gary Harris, D.J. Augustin and Darrell Arthur all also scored 17 points and Will Barton finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Denver. The Nuggets outscored Washington, 41-17, in the final 12 minutes to win their fourth consecutive game for the first time this season.
John Wall had 19 points and 11 assists, and Otto Porter scored 21 points for the Wizards, who have lost their last five games.
Nurkic missed the first 33 games after having offseason surgery on his left knee. He played in 19 games starting Jan. 2 but scored in double figures in just three.
After sitting for eight games, he played sparingly Thursday before breaking out in the second half against Washington.
Washington played its third game without Bradley Beal, who is out with a sprained pelvis. The Wizards built an 11-point lead late in the third quarter without their leading scorer, as Porter had 10 points and Wall scored eight in the period. Wall’s 14-foot jumper at the buzzer made it 83-75 heading into the fourth.
Marcus Thornton’s 3-pointer with 9:19 left gave the Wizards an 89-82 lead, but Denver rallied. Two dunks by Nurkic tied it and two 3-pointers by Arthur sparked an 18-2 run that gave the Nuggets a 100-91 lead.
Denver kept up the pressure, going ahead 110-95 on Nurkic’s driving layup with 2:31 left.
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