DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 39 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his first game back in nearly two weeks to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 127-117 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
The triple-double was Jokic’s NBA-leading 30th of the season. The reigning NBA MVP missed the team’s previous five games with an injured left ankle.
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Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers directs his team against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., back right, is blocked by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, back left, as guard Jamal Murray heads to the basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr., center, drives to the basket between Denver Nuggets forwards Peyton Watson, left, and Michael Porter Jr. in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., left, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., front, drives to the basket past Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, left, drives to the basket as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince, right, goes up for a 3-point basket as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr., right, passes the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and center Nikola Jokic, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, collects the ball as Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, fields a pass as Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Michael Porter Jr. added 23 points for the Nuggets on a night when he made his first six shots, including his first five 3-pointers.
It was the Bucks’ first game since it was announced star guard Damian Lillard was diagnosed with blood clots in his right calf. Milwaukee was also without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was sidelined with a sprained left foot that coach Doc Rivers said he was informed of at the team’s shootaround Wednesday.
Brook Lopez had 26 points for the Bucks, marking the third consecutive game in which the veteran big man has finished with at least 20 points. Seven of the eight Milwaukee players who took the court Wednesday scored in double figures.
Nuggets: Jokic’s big game saved Denver on a night during which it routinely struggled defensively against a depleted opponent. The Nuggets had lost three of their previous four games.
Bucks: Milwaukee performed well without three of its top four scorers – forward Bobby Portis is still serving a 25-game suspension – but fell to 4-7 in its past 11 games.
After not trailing for the opening 31 minutes, the Nuggets fell behind 88-83 in the third quarter, but immediately responded with a 13-1 run capped by a 3 from Christian Braun.
Russell Westbrook’s steal in the first quarter was the 1,944th of his career, tying Kobe Bryant for the 16th most in NBA history. Two nights earlier, Westbrook surpassed Kevin Garnett as the NBA’s No. 20 all-time scorer.
Nuggets: Host Utah on Friday night.
Bucks: Host New York on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers directs his team against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., back right, is blocked by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, back left, as guard Jamal Murray heads to the basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr., center, drives to the basket between Denver Nuggets forwards Peyton Watson, left, and Michael Porter Jr. in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., left, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., front, drives to the basket past Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, left, drives to the basket as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince, right, goes up for a 3-point basket as Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr., right, passes the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and center Nikola Jokic, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, collects the ball as Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, fields a pass as Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
BANGKOK (AP) — Emergency rescue teams on Sunday began trickling into the area of Myanmar hardest hit by a massive earthquake that killed more than 1,600 people, their efforts hindered by buckled roads, downed bridges, spotty communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the midst of a civil war.
The 7.7 magnitude quake hit midday Friday with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city's airport.
Many of Mandalay's 1.5 million people spent the night sleeping on the streets, either left homeless by the quake, which also shook neighboring Thailand and killed at least 17 people there, or worried that the continuing aftershocks might cause structures left unstable to collapse.
So far 1,644 people have been reported killed in Myanmar and 3,408 missing, but many areas have not yet been reached, and many rescue efforts so far have been undertaken by people working by hand to try and clear rubble, said Cara Bragg, the Yangon-based manager of Catholic Relief Services in Myanmar.
“It's mainly been local volunteers, local people who are just trying to find their loved ones,” Bragg said after bring briefed by her colleague in Mandalay.
“I've also seen reports that now some countries are sending search and rescue teams up to Mandalay to support the efforts, but hospitals are really struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, there's a shortage of medical supplies, and people are struggling to find food and clean water,” Bragg added.
The organization was sending a team by road on Sunday to assess peoples' most pressing needs so that it could target its own response.
With the Mandalay airport damaged and the control tower toppled in the capital Naypitaw's airport, all commercial flights into the cities have been shut down.
Still, two Indian C-17 military transport aircraft were able to land late Saturday at Naypitaw with a field hospital unit and some 120 personnel who were then to travel north to Mandalay to establish a 60-bed emergency treatment center, according to the country's Foreign Ministry. Other Indian supplies were flown into Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, which has been the hub of other foreign relief efforts.
On Sunday, a convoy of 17 Chinese cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies was expected to reach Mandalay, after making the arduous journey by road from Yangon.
The 650-kilometer (400-mile) journey has been taking 14 hours or longer, with clogged roads and traffic diverted from the main highway to skirt damage from the earthquake.
At the same time, the window of opportunity to find anyone alive is rapidly closing. Most rescues occur within the first 24 hours after a disaster, and then survival chances drop as each day passes.
An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”
China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies like medical kits and generators, and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon, and the country’s Health Ministry said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.
In neighboring Thailand, the quake rocked much of the county, bringing down a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away from the epicenter.
So far, 10 people have been found dead at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market, where 83 people are unaccounted for and the latest body was recovered from the rubble early Sunday morning. A total of 17 people have been reported killed by the quake in Thailand so far.
In Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, rescue efforts so far are focused on Mandalay and Naypyitaw, which are thought to have been the hardest hit, but many other areas were also impacted and little is known so far about the damage there.
“We're hearing reports of hundreds of people trapped in different areas,” said Bragg. “Right now we're at 1,600 (known fatalities) and we don't have a lot of data coming out but you've got to assume it will be increasing in the thousands based on what the impacts are. This is just anecdotal information at this point.”
Beyond the earthquake damage, rescue efforts are complicated by the bloody civil war roiling much of the country, including in quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.
Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.
The government military has been fighting long-established militias and newly formed pro-democracy People's Defense Forces, and has heavily restricted much-needed aid efforts to the large population already displaced by war even before the earthquake.
On Saturday, Myanmar’s opposition shadow National Unity Government, to which the PDF militias are loyal, announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.
The military did not immediately comment on the announcement and it continued airstrikes even after the earthquake.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance, a group of three of Myanmar's most powerful and well-armed militias that launched a combined offensive in October 2023 that broke a strategic stalemate with the military regime, didn't mention a ceasefire in a statement Saturday, but said it was ready to help.
“We will promptly provide assistance to those affected by the earthquake to the best of our ability, with a spirit of humanity, unit and brotherhood,” the group said.
Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this story.
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of victims wait as rescuers work at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday morning, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A person watches rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
people watch rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Women cry as they wait for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers works look for the survivors at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman reacts after being informed that her husband had died at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
