Barnes, Siakam power Raptors past Nuggets for 3rd straight win
VanVleet held out while managing recovery from right knee injury
Pascal Siakam scored 33 points, Scottie Barnes had 25 and the Toronto Raptors pulled away late to beat the Denver Nuggets 127-115 on Saturday night.
Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nuggets. Bones Hyland added 17 points, and Will Barton had 16 in his return from an ankle injury.
Trailing by two at the break, the Nuggets got 3-pointers from Hyland and Austin Rivers around a tip-in from Siakam to close the third quarter with a 99-93 lead.
WATCH l Siakam scores game-high 33 as Raptors defeat Nuggets:
The Raptors regained the lead with a 10-2 burst capped by Boucher's alley-oop layup that put them in front 117-109 with 3:56 left to play. Morris made one of two free throws, but Boucher hit a 3-pointer and Barnes drove in for a layup around a dunk by Jeff Green to build the Raptors' lead to 10 points with 1:25 left to secure the victory.
Siakam scored 23 of his points in the first half, helping the Raptors take a 65-63 lead. The 27-year-old has scored 20 or more points in six straight games.
Fred VanVleet was held out of the game, the second in a back-to-back set, as part of managing his recovery from a right knee injury.
