DENVER • Davon Reed provided quite an answer to Michael Malone’s question before the Nuggets’ 131-124 win over the shorthanded Golden State Warriors on Monday at Ball Arena.

“I watch him work every day. I joked with him before the game. I said ‘You got any shots left in that clip?’ because he’s been working so hard,” Malone said. “He’s been shooting it so well.”

With Will Barton III missing the game with an ankle sprain suffered late in Sunday’s game, Austin Rivers started in his place, while Davon Reed was elevated to the second unit. Reed led the bench players with 17 points, making five of seven shots from 3-point range. It’s a new career-high for the wing, who hasn’t had a regular spot in the rotation this season but has kept his work ethic consistent.

“If I don’t play, I’m upstairs after every game, getting shots up,” Reed said. “I’m getting my work in every day. All I can do is control what I can control, and that’s staying ready.”

Rivers scored 15 points, including a couple of buckets late in the fourth quarter, and added four assists and three steals.

“He’s a really good defender, of course,” Jokic said.

“Rivers did a really good job today and yesterday, the whole fourth quarter.”

His biggest play of the night came with the Nuggets protecting a three-point lead with 2:30 left. Rivers blew up a dribble-hand-off play for Jordan Poole, poked the ball free and got out in transition for a two-handed a dunk, a play that helped him earn the team’s chain that goes to the best defensive player.

“I thought Austin, who won the award tonight, had lots of really good defensive possessions throughout the game,” Malone said.

Jokic led Denver and posted his second straight triple-double with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.

“That’s MVP-caliber basketball,” Jeff Green said. “He’s been doing it for us all year, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to continue to do it. This is normal for him now.”

His 13 assists helped the Nuggets post 39 helpers and just nine turnovers. Malone called it the start of the game.

“I love it,” Jokic said of the unselfish brand of basketball. “I think we actually should have actually even more, because we missed a couple of open ones, layups, 3s, whatever. I think we did a good job today sharing it and finishing it.”

It was his 18th triple-double of the season, second in as many nights and third since the All-Star break.

“Nikola’s conditioning — he loves horses — it’s like Secretariat. He can just run all day,” Malone said. “It doesn’t get talked about enough because he’s not the prolific athlete that a lot of these guys are, but he played all 72 games last year, played at an MVP level. For him to do what he’s doing this year once again — and he won it last year, and all the numbers and stats and metrics you come up with — he’s having a better season than he had last year when he won it.”

Monte Morris (18), Jeff Green (18), and DeMarcus Cousins (13) also reached double figures for the Nuggets.

The Warriors played without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Andre Iguodala and others. Poole and Moses Moody led Golden State with 32 and 30 points, respectively.

Moody scored made his first three 3s and scored 15 of his points in the first quarter, but the Nuggets took a nine-point lead to the second quarter after Reed and DeMarcus Cousins got hot late in the opening quarter.

Reed added two more 3s early in the second, starting 4 for 4 from deep, and added a two-handed dunk off a Cousins assist, but the Nuggets struggled to shake the Warriors, leading 71-69 at halftime.

“The defense in that first half was just nonexistent,” Malone said.

Poole hit a couple of his 3s early in the third, and the Warriors led by as many as seven before the Nuggets used a 25-7 run to regain an 11-point lead. The Warriors closed within three to start the fourth quarter.

The Warriors missed a couple of 3s that would’ve tied the game in the fourth quarter, the last of which came with just over four minutes to play. A couple of buckets from Rivers, a chase-down block from Green and a late three-point play from Jokic helped the Nuggets maintain a lead for the entire fourth quarter.

Malone called Jeff Green’s effort one of the best chase-down blocks he’s seen by a player not named LeBron James. Reed was impressed, as well.

“I got to figure out what Jeff has got going on. I need that athleticism.

“Those are the type of plays that win games, especially when we were having a tough time defending them. Those are big plays in big moments that build character going forward.”

Unfortunately for the veteran forward, it wasn’t enough to snatch the chain from Rivers.

“I’m very disappointed,” Jeff Green joked.

After a day off Tuesday, the Nuggets will continue a four-games-in-five-days stretch Wednesday in Sacramento before hosting the Warriors again Thursday.