March 6, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Knicks’ center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and New York Knicks’ guard Josh Hart (3) are defending Denver Nuggets’ center Nikola Jokic (15) during the first quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Image OG Anunoby scored a season-high 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the visiting New York Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets 142-103 on Friday night.
It was New York’s third largest win of the season and the worst loss of the season for Denver, which played the second half without Jamal Murray.
Murray, who scored 12 points, rolled his left ankle when he stepped on Nikola Jokic’s foot while retreating from the defense with 1 minute and 5 seconds left in the second quarter.
He was helped out of the courtroom and did not return despite being listed as a suspicious person.
Jalen Brunson scored just nine points but finished with 15 assists for the Knicks, who came up big to take control of the second quarter. Josh Hart scored 18 points and Mitchell Robinson had 13 off the bench.
Anunoby is six points behind the career high he set on Nov. 25, 2024, during the Knicks’ last visit to Denver. He was 6-for-11 from 3-point range, and the Knicks were 16-for-34 (47.1%) from behind the arc.
Jokic had 38 points and eight rebounds, DaRon Holmes II had 11 points and Cameron Johnson had 10 points for the Nuggets, who started the Opening Day lineup for the first time since Nov. 12 with Aaron Gordon returning from a hamstring injury.
Gordon had three points in his first game since Jan. 23, but wasn’t even halfway through the lineup.
Murray’s injury led to a bad second quarter for Denver, which missed all seven of its shots from behind the arc while taking a 38-23 lead. The Nuggets missed their last 11 3-pointers of the first half and 17 in a row until Jokic drained one with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
Denver shot 8-for-40 (20%) from deep.
By then, New York was cruising to an easy victory. Denver was within 80-68 and had a chance to cut it to 10, but Johnson missed a layup. Anunoby drained one of six 3-pointers on the other end, sparking a 12-2 run that made it 92-70 late in the third quarter.
New York led 105-80 and went ahead by as many as 42 points going into the fourth inning.
–Field level media
