Murray scores 30 points, Jokic has another triple-double to help Nuggets roll past Butler and Heat

MIAMI (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 30 points, Nikola Jokic extended his NBA lead with his 17th triple-double of the season and the Denver Nuggets spoiled Jimmy Butler's return by beating the Miami Heat 133-113 on Friday night.

Jokic finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Aaron Gordon added 16 for Denver.

Tyler Herro scored 22 points for Miami, while Butler had 18 in his first game back from a seven-game suspension. Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Nikola Jovic scored 16 points for the Heat.

Nuggets: Denver hit the midway point of the season at 25-16, putting the Nuggets on pace to win at least 60% of their games for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Prior to this stretch, the Nuggets finished at .600 or better only six times in their previous 31 seasons.

Heat: Miami has dropped three in a row at home — its longest such streak of the season — and all were by double digits: a 13-point loss to Indiana on Jan. 2, a 36-point loss to Utah two nights later and now this loss by 20.

Jokic made a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the third quarter, pushing Denver's lead out to 12. Otherwise, Miami would have been within nine and with the ball to open the fourth quarter. But Jokic's 3 started an 14-2 run that put the game basically out of Miami's reach.

Including a pair of triple-doubles in NBA Finals games, Jokic has eight triple-doubles against Miami. The Nuggets are 8-0 in those games.

Denver finishes its two-game trip Sunday in Orlando, while Miami remains home Sunday to face Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) stands on the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) shoots as Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson defends Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, passes as Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., left, drives to the basket as Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther (3) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, second from left, looks on from the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13), Nuggets guard Christian Braun, second from right, and Heat guard Terry Rozier, right, go for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun, top, dunks over Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler looks to pass the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) passes the ball as Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s military intervention in Venezuela will pose a fresh test of his ability to hold together a restive Republican coalition during a challenging election year that could be defined by domestic concerns like health care and affordability.

While most Republicans lined up behind the president in the immediate aftermath of the stunning U.S. mission to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and bring him to New York to face criminal charges, there were signs of unease across the spectrum within the party. In particular, Trump's comments about the U.S. positioning itself to “run” Venezuela have raised concerns that he is abandoning the “America First” philosophy that has long distinguished him from more traditional Republicans and helped fuel his political rise.

“This is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of that doesn't serve the American people, but actually serves the big corporations, the banks and the oil executives,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a former Trump ally who is resigning on Monday, in an interview with NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Those concerns were shared by some who are not associated with the party's far-right flank.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a moderate who is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the November midterms, said in a statement that “the only country that the United States of America should be ‘running’ is the United States of America.”

Those comments reflect the sensitive dynamics between Trump and his fellow Republicans at the outset of an election year in which their party risks losing control of Congress. While the president's dominance remains undisputed, the ironclad grip that he has held over the party has faced unusual challenges in recent months. Blocs of Republicans have banded together to pressure Trump to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Others have been vocal in encouraging Trump to take concerns about affordability more seriously.

Few issues are as central to Trump's political brand as ensuring that the U.S. does not get entangled in seemingly endless foreign conflicts at the expense of domestic goals. During a 2016 Republican presidential debate, for instance, he described the war in Iraq as a “big, fat mistake."

But on Saturday, Trump said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” in Venezuela if that was deemed necessary, and he framed his actions as prioritizing the safety and security of Americans. He articulated an aggressive vision of U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, and he told reporters it was important to “surround ourselves with good neighbors."

However, much like the Iraq War, a president's early confidence after a dramatic military action can sometimes meet more sobering realities that drain domestic political support.

In Venezuela, U.S. troops could be placed in harm's way again as Trump warns that more military operations may be in the works. An ongoing conflict could worsen the hemisphere's refugee crisis, something the White House has tried to tamp down with stricter border controls. In addition, there are questions about how much cooperation the U.S. will receive from officials still in Venezuela or how easily the country's oil reserves could be tapped to fulfill Trump's goal of extracting more energy with Maduro out of the picture.

Trump's comments this weekend about revitalizing the oil industry in Venezuela are in line with some of the earliest critiques he made of the handling of the Iraq War. During a 2013 speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said the U.S. should “take” oil from Iraq and “pay ourselves back.”

Frustration with the handling of the Iraq War contributed to major gains for Democrats in the 2006 election and helped create the conditions for Barack Obama to be elected to the presidency two years later. Given the baggage surrounding those wars, Trump allies insist that the actions this weekend in Venezuela are different.

“Venezuela looks nothing like Libya,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on “Meet the Press. “It looks nothing like Iraq. It looks nothing like Afghanistan. It looks nothing like the Middle East other than the Iranian agents that are running through there plotting against America, okay?”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton argued that the 1989 ouster of Manuel Noriega in Panama is a better comparison.

“That was a successful operation,” Cotton said on CNN's “State of the Union.” “I believe, in the long run, this will be too.”

Still, amid some of the pushback about the U.S. taking expansive responsibility for managing Venezuela, Rubio suggested a more limited role. He said that Washington would not handle day-to-day governance of the South American country other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on Venezuela.

It is not clear that any forceful, organized opposition to Trump's Venezuela policy is emerging within the GOP. Instead, many lawmakers appear to be giving the Republican administration some room and, at most, offer some warnings.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who faces a potentially challenging reelection campaign this year, called Maduro a “narco-terrorist and international drug trafficker” who should stand trial even, as she said “Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and needs to be involved as this situation evolves.”

Even Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who often criticizes military interventions, did not specifically oppose Trump's actions. He wrote on social media that “time will tell if regime change in Venezuela is successful without significant monetary or human cost.”

Many Democrats denounced Trump's actions in Venezuela and the Democratic National Committee quickly sought to raise money by blasting “another unconstitutional war from Trump.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., rejected the administration's argument that it was combating drug crimes, saying on X that the White House is instead focused on “oil and regime change” while seeking to “to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.” Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the strike was part of an “old and obvious pattern” where an “unpopular president — failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home — decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.”

AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla., as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump listens to a question during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla., as Secretary of State Marco Rubio watches. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)