<p>PORTLAND, Ore. — Nikola Jokic scored 25 points and made three key free throws down the stretch to give the Denver Nuggets a 106-105 victory over the Portland trail Blazers on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Michael Porter Jr. added 17 points, all in the opening quarter, and the Nuggets won their fourth straight. </p>
<p>Damian Lillard scored 22 points for Portland, which has struggled against Western Conference teams that sit higher in the standings. The Trail Blazers lost their third straight.</p>
<p>Portland led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but the Nuggets cut the margin and took a 92-91 lead on PJ Dozier’s 3-pointer with 7:42 left. Dozier’s dunk extended the lead to 99-93. </p>
<p>CJ McCollum’s jumper tied it at 99 with just under five minutes to go. Jusuf Nurkic and Jokic traded baskets before Dozier’s layup put the Nuggets up 103-101. </p>
<p>Lillard’s pullup jumper tied it again with 1:37 left. Jokic made three free throws in the final 90 seconds to put the Nuggets up 106-103 before Lillard’s layup got the Blazers within one, but it was as close as they could get. </p>
<p>Lillard had missed three games with a hamstring injury. Nurkic missed Tuesday night’s loss to the Clippers because of knee management in the first of a back-to-back. </p>
<p>It was a tight first half. McCollum’s layup gave the Blazers their biggest lead at 48-40. But the Nuggets gained ground and went into the break with a 60-57 lead. </p>
<p>McCollum’s 3-pointer, back-to-back baskets from Norman Powell and another 3 from Lillard capped a 12-0 run that put the Blazers up 71-65 in the third quarter. The run was stopped by Jokic’s tip.</p>
<p>Porter launched into a 3-point attempt, but kicked Powell in the knee to draw a flagrant foul. Powell initially stayed in the game but a short time later left the court. The Blazers said he had a right knee contusion, but he returned in the final quarter. </p>
<p>Denver was coming off a 139-137 double-overtime victory over Memphis on Monday. </p>
<p>TIP INS</p>
<p>Nuggets: Denver announced Wednesday that guard Jamal Murray has undergone surgical reconstruction of his ACL. He remains out indefinitely. Murray, who was averaging 21.2 points a game this season, was injured on April 12 in a game at Golden State. … Austin Rivers, who signed a 10-day contract with Denver on Tuesday, was available for the game. </p>
<p>Trail Blazers: With a 3-pointer in the first quarter, Lillard moved past Jason Kidd into 10th place on the NBA’s all-time 3s list. … Lillard also joined Oscar Robertson as the only two players in NBA history with 1,500-plus points and 400-plus assists in each of their first nine seasons. … It was the second of three meetings between the teams this season. Denver won the first, 111-106. </p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>The Nuggets visit Golden State on Friday. </p>
<p>The Trail Blazers play the first of two straight games against Memphis on Friday. </p>
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