Will Barton finished with 22 points for the Nuggets, who are looking to end a four-year playoff drought.

Bradley Beal had 24 points and Markieff Morris scored 17 for Washington.

Otto Porter added 13 points, while Marcin Gortat scored 11 for the Wizards, who committed 17 turnovers.

Nuggets leading scorer Gary Harris missed his fourth consecutive game with a right knee injury. Harris, who is averaging 17.7 points per game, sustained the injury in a win over Detroit on March 15.

A 3-pointer by Barton gave Denver a 64-53 lead with 7:46 left in the third period. The Wizards chipped away and Morris scored nine straight points to cut the margin to four less than two minutes later. Beal hit a 3-pointer to cut the Nuggets' lead to 68-65 with 4:18 remaining in the quarter.

Beal made another shot from beyond the arc and the Wizards took their first lead since the opening minutes, 73-72, with just over a minute left in the third quarter. The Nuggets settled down and managed to retake control. A jumper by Jokic provided an 80-76 lead with 11:43 remaining in the game.

Washington had a couple of big defensive stops and cut the margin to 92-91 on a 3-pointer by Tomas Satoransky with 4:48 left in the game. Porter then provided a one-point lead on the next possession.

The Nuggets settled down and took a 97-93 lead on a hook shot by Jokic with 3:32 left. Barton made a key 3-pointer and Denver was able to close out the game.

Despite losing four of its past six, Washington sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Denver has won two straight games and remains a game and a half out of the playoffs in ninth place in the Western Conference.

--Field Level Media