A change of scenery and a chance to spend time together made all the difference for the Denver Nuggets.
Denver traveled 4,683 miles to play a home game, and the trek paid off with one of its best games of the year.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Wilson Chandler scored 21 points, and the Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 140-112 on Thursday at O2 Arena in London, England.
Danilo Gallinari scored 18 points and Kenneth Faried finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets (15-23), who set their season high in points to stop a five-game skid in the NBA Global Games London 2017.
Denver flew to England on Monday and spent three days together in London. The experience helped the team grow together, and the results showed on the court.
Knicks 104, Bulls 89
NEW YORK — Joakim Noah recorded his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds to help New York beat Chicago, his former team.
Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks, who had lost nine of their last 10 games, with 23 points. Former Bull Derrick Rose contributed 17 points and Kyle O’Quinn came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down 11 rebounds.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas recorded a career-high 19 points for the Knicks.
Rose and Noah were acquired by the Knicks over the summer in an effort to beef up their scoring and defense.
Pelicans 104, Nets 95
NEW YORK — Tyreke Evans scored 14 of his season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and New Orleans overcame the absence of Anthony Davis by executing down the stretch of a victory over Brooklyn.
Evans, who missed the first 26 games of the season while recovering from right knee surgery, made 10 of 15 shots in a season-high 27 minutes. It was the first time he scored more than 25 points since Jan. 10, 2016, against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Davis (left hip) missed his second game of the season due to injury after being listed as questionable following the hard foul from New York Knicks forward Kyle O’Quinn. The Pelicans received little from centers Omer Asik and Donatas Motiejunas, who combined for one point on 0-of-7 shooting.
Spurs 134, Lakers 94
SAN ANTONIO — Kawhi Leonard poured in 31 points in just three quarters of play as four of San Antonio’s starters scored in double figures as the Spurs waylaid Los Angeles at the AT&T Center.
San Antonio’s 134 points were a season high, as were the 72 points scored by the Spurs in the first half and the overall margin of victory of 40 points.
Pau Gasol added 22 points for San Antonio, while LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker added 13 each, all in just three quarters of the lopsided game. The Spurs also got 12 points from Jonathan Simmons and 10 from Dejounte Murray and a game-high 12 rebounds from Dewayne Dedmon.