Michael Porter Jr. scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, and the Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 132-126 in the NBA seedings stage on Wednesday (US time).

Jerami Grant added 22 points off the bench, 14 coming in the fourth, where Denver needed Porter and Grant's shooting to fend off a San Antonio team fighting for a playoff berth.

After scoring a career-high 37 points in Denver's previous game -- a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder -- Porter continued to find his range against San Antonio.

In the past 2 games, Porter is 9 of 15 from the 3-point area.

Back-to-back 3s by him and Grant broke a tie and gave Denver a 103-97 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

After rookie Keldon Johnson sank a triple to help the Spurs keep in step inside the last 2 minutes, a pair of buckets by Porter extended the Nuggets' lead to 124-114, enough of a cushion to hold the Spurs off.

Nikola Jokic added 25 points and 11 assists for Denver (45-23), which has won 2 straight and remained in contention for the No. 2 seed, despite missing 3 regular starters in Will Barton (knee), and the backcourt duo of Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Gary Harris (hip).

Porter also finished with a career-high 15 rebounds in a game the saw both teams score efficiently from the floor.

Rudy Gay tallied 24 points off the bench, while Johnson, who has played significant minutes in the bubble, added 20 for the Spurs, who are just behind the Portland Trailblazers in the race for the 8th seed in the West.

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