Jamal Murray added 26 points and 12 assists, and Nikola Jokic finished with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists. On Monday night, the home Denver Nuggets overcame a 22-point hole to defeat the Toronto Raptors 125-119.

Jokic has 126 triple-doubles in his career in addition to 21 this season.

Denver, which has won nine straight, is led by Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, who each scored 19 points.

Due to hand injuries, Toronto was already without Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl. Additionally, Immanuel Quickley (hip flexor), Gary Trent Jr. (groyne strain), and Chris Boucher (knee) could not play.

As a result, the Raptors on Monday saw significant playing time for Ochai Agbaji, Jontay Porter, and Javon Freeman-Liberty, who had not been used much.

Michael Porter Jr.’s younger brother, Jontay Porter, led the team in points scored off the bench with a career-high of 14. For Toronto, which has lost six straight games, RJ Barrett finished with 26 points, Kelly Olynyk added 24 points, Gradey Dick scored 17 points, Bruce Brown had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalen McDaniels had 12 points.

In the first half, the youthful Raptors startled Denver by seizing their chance. Toronto scored the first 11 points of the second quarter to take a 45-32 lead after leading by two at the end of the first quarter. With 5:55 remaining in the half, Jordan Nwora made a 3-pointer to make it 56-38. Twice before the half, Dick’s pull-up jumper brought the advantage to 22, the latest of which came just before the break.

Murray’s three-pointer at the half gave the Nuggets a 68-51 lead.

With 7:37 remaining in the third quarter, Olynyk’s three-pointer gave the Raptors a fast lead of 85-64, but Jokic’s three-pointer opened the second half’s scoring.

From then on, the Nuggets picked up steam, finishing the quarter on a 16-5 run to close the gap to 98-93 entering the fourth quarter.

With 8:58 remaining, a Murray layup gave Denver a 103-102 lead. However, the teams then traded baskets, and Murray’s floater set off an 8-0 run that gave the Nuggets a 112-107 advantage with 5:35 left.