On Friday night, the San Antonio Spurs welcomed the defending champion and conference-leading Denver Nuggets to their home away from home in Austin, but the Moody Center lacked the spark that the Frost Bank Center had provided during earlier this season’s shock victory.

Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 31 points, as Denver (47-20) utilized a strong fourth quarter to defeat the Spurs (14-53) by 117-106.

“The good thing about playing the Nuggets — and we’ll play them twice more — is that you get to play against a championship team and see what it takes,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the game.

Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ rookie star, was harried by the Denver defense all night and battled with his shot before finishing with 17 points on 4 of 12 shooting, nine rebounds, and three blocks.

Jeremy Sochan led the Spurs with 19 points, while Devin Vassell (17), Zach Collins (13), and Julian Champagnie (10) also scored in double figures.

Jokic finished with 31 points on 13 of 19 shooting, seven rebounds, and five assists. Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets scored 15 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while Michael Porter Jr. (13 points, seven rebounds), Christian Braun (13 points), and Justin Holiday (13 points) also had strong scoring performances.

San Antonio trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, but rallied before halftime and trimmed the lead to as little as six heading into the third quarter. In the third quarter, both teams went at it, but the Spurs were unable to recover the lead despite closing to four points.

“We were really shaky in the first quarter, like almost too much respect in a sense,” Popovich told the media. “Then they got it back together … the effort throughout the game was exactly what I’m looking for.”

With their sights set on an upset win in the final session, the Spurs instead fell victim to a constant dose of Murray and Braun to start the fourth quarter, as the Nuggets cruised past San Antonio for what quickly became a decisive victory.

The Spurs will remain in Austin before facing the Brooklyn Nets at the Moody Center on Sunday.