DENVER -- Nikola Jokic was nearly the hero for the Denver Nuggets, but one ill-advised path to the bench hurt his team in a disappointing home loss.

Jokic scored 13 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, but a technical foul for bumping Washington coach Scott Brooks on his way to the bench with 32.2 seconds left helped the Wizards hold on for a 109-104 win Monday night.

Jokic's offensive breakout was overshadowed by his run-in with Brooks.

"He just walked right into him and bumped him. He just kept walking like it was nothing," said Wizards guard John Wall, who had 19 points and 12 assists. "The refs seen it, and luckily the refs called it before anything bad happened."

Bradley Beal scored 20 points and Otto Porter Jr. added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (3-0). All five starters scored in double figures for the Wizards, who began their four-game Western Conference road trip with a solid performance.

The trip started with a strange finish to the first game. Washington called a timeout to try to stem a Denver rally, and Jokic ran into Brooks on the way to the Denver bench.

Jokic said he didn't try to bump the Washington coach.

"I think I tried to look at the score and hit the guy, the coach," Jokic said. "I turned just to see. I mean, I don't care, we lost the game. I'm sorry because I put my team in a bad position. That's the only thing I can say."

Crew chief Derrick Stafford said the referees determined Jokic's contact with Brooks was not accidental.

"He intentionally walked into Scotty Brooks on his way to the bench," Stafford told a pool reporter.

Brooks, who was a Nuggets assistant coach for three seasons, was surprised by Jokic's bump.

"It was an awkward, weird situation," he said. "I don't think he did it on purpose, but it happened. The referee had to deal with it and move on."

Washington was in control for most of the second half and built a 100-92 lead on Wall's free throw with 3:55 left. Jokic converted a three-point play, hit two more free throws and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to cut the deficit to 102-100 with 1:05 left.

After Wall hit a floater from just outside the lane, Jamal Murray hit an 18-foot jumper with 32.2 seconds left before the drama happened.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone was frustrated by the technical because he felt it was incidental contact.

"Nikola is walking off the court, Scott Brooks is walking on the court. There's contact made," Malone said. "It was embellished a little, to be honest, I think. The referees looked at it and called a tech."

Beal hit the free throw and then drove past Murray and hit a layup with 12 seconds left to make it 107-102, and the Wizards closed it out.

Paul Millsap had 17 points and eight rebounds for Denver (1-2). The Nuggets committed 24 turnovers -- eight by Jokic -- and lost despite outshooting Washington 48.8 percent to 44 percent.

The solid shooting kept the Nuggets in the game for three quarters, but they went cold to start the fourth

Jokic went scoreless and took only three shots on Saturday in Denver's win over the Sacramento Kings, but he came out aggressive Monday. He hit all five of his shots and scored 12 points in the first quarter. He had only four points in the second and third quarters combined before scoring 13 in the fourth.

Washington led by one at halftime and built it up to seven in the third quarter before Denver cut it back to one on Will Barton's buzzer-beating layup.

NOTES: Nuggets F Richard Jefferson was active for the first time since signing as a free agent on Thursday, though he didn't play. Juancho Hernangomez, who averaged 6.5 minutes in the first two games, was inactive due to an illness. ... Washington coach Scott Brooks said F Jason Smith (right shoulder sprain) is improving but wasn't ready to play Monday. He said Smith could play Wednesday. ... The Nuggets assigned rookie F Tyler Lydon and transferred rookie G Monte Morris to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and transferred rookie G/F Torrey Craig to the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. ... The Wizards have forced 60 turnovers in their first three games and have scored 66 points off the takeaways.