<p>DENVER — Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help the surging Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 106-96 on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Jokic just missed 13th triple-double of the season. Michael Porter Jr. added 18 points and 10 rebounds in the opener of the two-game set in Denver.</p>
<p>Denver has won seven in a row and has yet to lose in six games since Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee came over in trade-deadline deals. Gordon had nine points, and McGee provided energy off the bench in the second half.</p>
<p>Derrick White and Dejounte Murray scored 18 points each for struggling San Antonio. The Spurs hit the road for five games after going 2-7 at home, including a 24-point loss to Cleveland on Monday night. </p>
<p>The teams will meet again Friday night.</p>
<p>Denver coach Michael Malone got two technicals and was ejected with 5:32 left in the first half for yelling at the officials following a Jokic turnover. </p>
<p>The Nuggets led 54-50 at halftime but the Spurs opened the third on an 18-4 run to lead by 10. Denver scored the next 11 points and finished the third quarter on a 23-6 run to lead by seven heading into the fourth.</p>
<p>Denver quickly built a double-digit lead and went ahead by 20 on Porter’s 3-pointer.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Spurs: Lonnie Walker IV (right wrist soreness), Trey Lyles (right ankle sprain) and Keita Bates-Diop (right hamstring strain) continued to be sidelined. “As you might imagine with the type of injuries they have, it’s just a process,” coach Gregg Popovich said about Bates-Diop and Lyles. “They’re getting closer and closer.”</p>
<p>Nuggets: F Paul Millsap was inactive for rest. … Malone said G Monte Morris won’t log heavy minutes for now. He played in his second game after missing 11 with a right quad strain. He finished with seven points in 19 minutes.</p>
<p>MURRAY SITS AGAIN</p>
<p>Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was out of the lineup for the second straight game with right knee soreness. With the compact schedule Malone said he needs to manage Murray’s workload.</p>
<p>“We’re in the middle of six games in nine nights, three games in four nights, so the schedule has obviously been very demanding,” Malone said. “We’ve asked a lot of Nikola, Jamal, all of our guys, and he’s banged up, so he needs this rest to try and get back as healthy as possible this season.”</p>
