Nuggets beat the Warriors while the Nets get their first victory

(Basketball news) The Denver Nuggets began their season in an emphatic victory over defending champions Golden State Warriors 128-123. For the Nuggets, Jokic had his 77th career triple-double with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as Brown scored 20 points and Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 17 apiece. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry scored 34 points with five 3-pointers as Andrew Wiggins finished the match with 23 points while Klay Thompson scored 16 points in a return to the starting lineup.

''My biggest challenge for Nikola is always finding a way to use his voice and be a leader,'' Malone said. ''This is his team. He's a great player, and what makes him great is he makes every one of those guys better. And that chemistry is only going to continue to get better and better as the season goes along. But tonight was a great example of what it has potential to be.''

''He's everybody's kryptonite,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ''He's a two-time MVP for a reason.''

''We didn't start off with a strong defensive presence,'' Draymond Green said. ''Five minutes into the game they had 20 points. That's on me.''

The Brooklyn Nets returned to winning ways after an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics but they beat the Toronto Raptors 109-105. For the Nets, Kevin Durant broke a tie with a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left and had 27 points as Kyrie Irving led the scoring with 30 points. For the Raptors, Pascal Siakam led the scoring with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as Fred VanVleet added 18 points and Scottie Barnes had 17.

''It's a game of runs. I like how we stayed with it, the resiliency that we showed,'' Durant said. ''We were up double-digits and we let them come back twice. It was an up and down game, but we just kept fighting.''

''The type of player I am, when I play at a higher level my team has a better chance to win,'' Siakam said. ''I think anytime I play better by team is in a higher position to win. But when you lose, you have to flush it out and get on to the next one.''

''I think things could've gone a different way if I picked up my fifth foul,'' Irving said. ''It was a big play, a big turning point. We got to set up our offense for the next possession and after that I thought we had control of the game.''

The other results were: