Wilson Chandler scored 18 points in his return from a pulled groin and provided stellar defense on LeBron James in the Nuggets’ 126-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night in Denver.

The Nuggets bounced back from consecutive heartbreaking last-second losses to Houston with a signature win that increased their lead to 1½ games over idle Portland in the race for the final playoff spot in the West.

Will Barton scored 20 points, Kenneth Faried added 17 and Jamal Murray had 15 off the bench for Denver, which also got 21 points from Gary Harris and 16 from Nikola Jokic.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 33 points but James had just 18 and the two stars sat out much of the fourth quarter with Cleveland trailing by double digits.

The Nuggets took a 101-90 lead into the fourth quarter after an entertaining third quarter that included a James-fueled 15-4 run by the Cavaliers and a 15-3 response by the Nuggets that included nine points from Faried.

Thunder 122, 76ers 97 — Russell Westbrook recorded his 35th triple-double of the season with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists and host Oklahoma City cruised over Philadelphia.

The Thunder have won 16 straight games against Philadelphia,.

Westbrook needs six triple-doubles in Oklahoma City’s final 11 games to tie Oscar Robertson’s single-season record, set during the 1961-62 season.

Wizards 104, Hawks 100 — Bradley Beal scored 28 points and John Wall added all 22 of his in the second half to help host Washington defeat Atlanta.

Wall also had 10 assists on a night he shot just 6 of 21 from the floor, including two assists to Beal during a late 14-2 run that helped Washington ensure victory after Atlanta had led by as many as 12 early.

Hornets 109, Magic 102 — Kemba Walker scored 22 points and Marco Belinelli came off the bench to add 20 as Charlotte pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback to win in Orlando.

Charlotte won its third straight game and keeps its Eastern Conference playoff hopes alive after entering the night three games out of eighth place in the standings.

Bulls 117, Pistons 95 — Nikola Mirotic scored a season-high 28 points, and host Chicago beat Detroit in a matchup between struggling teams fighting for a playoff spot.