Superstar Nikola Jokic dominates Raptors in Denver win

All-time great centre simply could not be stopped as sloppy Raptors wasted 10-point early lead.

Published Nov 04, 2026  •  Last updated 4 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets drives around Collin Murray-Boyles #30 of the Toronto Raptors in the first half at Ball Arena on November 4, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Tyler Schank /Getty Images

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Reports of Nikola Jokic’s demise were greatly exaggerated.

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The three-time NBA MVP had his way with the Raptors in a dominant return to form and got help from a variety of Denver Nuggets teammates, including Canadian star Jamal Murray in an easy 128-109 win in the Mile High City on Wednesday.

Jokic finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 201st career triple-double, powering the Nuggets to better than 60% shooting against Toronto’s token defence. Murray, of Kitchener, had 14, along with seven assists.

Consistently throwing the ball away and failing to provide any resistance inside did in the Raptors, who were playing for the third time in four days and looked like it.

Leading after two quarters, the Raptors, and star Scottie Barnes in particular, kept committing turnovers, allowing the Nuggets to gain increasing confidence offensively and take control.

Barnes scored 17 points, but had five turnovers. RJ Barrett led the Raptors with 22.

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Denver entered a disappointing 3-3 with Jokic facing some rare criticism for playing below his usual all-time great level. But he was in fine form in this one, dominating in the first quarter while nearly compiling a triple-double in the first half alone. Jokic then matched Toronto’s 15 points in the third quarter.

Things were actually pretty good for Toronto early. Immanuel Quickley was great, playing one of his best stretches as a Raptor over the first two quarters, but was as bad in the third as he was good over the prior two quarters. Barrett scored 17 points in the half and Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles were solid too as Toronto built a lead as big as 10. Denver rallied to pull within 67-64 in the entertaining, high-octane opening 24 minutes where both teams shot 59%.

With his team dealing with Denver’s altitude, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic went to his bench early and often, keeping stints shorter.

The Raptors could have packed it in after a disastrous start to the third quarter, but they fought back to make it a game before tired legs appeared to catch up with them, allowing the Nuggets to go ahead by 23 points when Jokic finished off his triple-double with an offensive rebound and put-back to end the frame. The Nuggets outscored the Raptors 41-15 in the third.

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The Raptors, once again without Kawhi Leonard, dropped back to .500.

A big change

Toronto got Jakob Poeltl back after he missed the two games in Los Angeles. Somewhat surprisingly though, given he’s the only true centre on the roster, Poeltl came off the bench instead of matching right up with the gigantic Jokic, with Murray-Boyles starting for the second game in a row (Toronto had opted for Trayce Jackson-Davis as the starting centre the first game Poeltl missed). The sophomore big man had been off to a bit of a slow start, though his start against the Clippers had been one of his best games of the year so far.

Poeltl has been a starter when healthy since being traded back to Toronto by San Antonio in 2022-23, starting all but four of 184 games, plus all seven in the playoffs against Cleveland, though Rajakovic has let Murray-Boyles start the second half of some games both in the playoffs and this year when Poeltl had started the games.

If Murray-Boyles stood a couple inches taller he’d be the no-doubt starter already based on where both men are production-wise at this point, but Poeltl is still needed for his size and screen-setting to soak up minutes against the NBA’s behemoths during a long season.

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That said, with Poeltl hurting more than he’s helping most of the time so far even after recovering from last season’s back woes, it always felt like just a matter of time until Murray-Boyles replaced him as a starter.

The Raptors opted for athleticism to throw at Jokic, hoping it would at least make him work hard to get around them. Whoever Toronto threw at the league’s best big man didn’t much matter. Jokic had his way with them all.

Poeltl played a quiet eight minutes in the first half, often not even guarding Jokic, and returned to the game late in the third.

Denver obliterated Toronto in the paint.

DeMar DeRozan, the man Poeltl who was originally traded with Poeltl for Kawhi Leonard in 2018, was a late scratch due to back spasms. That further depleted a Nuggets team that has displayed poor depth. On Wednesday they got enough from their stars Jokic and Murray, third former championship cog Aaron Gordon, plus Cameron Johnson and a pair of rookies.

Next up:

The trip ends in Milwaukee against the now 1-7 Bucks who are enjoying life without Giannis Antetokounmpo about as much as they did when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left decades ago. The Raptors then host the surprising Memphis Grizzlies on Monday

@WolstatSun

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