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Nuggets snap 7-game skid with 93-85 win over Pelicans

Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (23) dunked his way past Eric Gordon and the New Orleans Pelicans for 15 points Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS – Arron Afflalo scored 20 points, and the Denver Nuggets snapped a seven-game losing streak, 93-85 over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.

Afflalo hit four 3-pointers, the last with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left to increase Denver’s then-tenuous lead to 89-85. After that, the Pelicans were unable to score another point and saw their four-game winning streak end.

Jusuf Nurkic scored 15 for Denver, while Kenneth Faried had 14, highlighted by his soaring dunk over Anthony Davis and Dante Cunningham.

Danilo Gallinari scored 11 points and hit three of Denver’s 10 3-pointers. Ty Lawson had 13 assists.

Davis had 24 points and 12 rebounds but briefly left the game late in the third quarter after a collision with Faried under the basket. Davis returned from what the team described as a left groin injury with 8:44 left, but the Pelicans were unable to regain the lead.

Tyreke Evans had 25 points for New Orleans, but only two assists from the point guard position after assisting on double-digit field goals in each of New Orleans previous two games.

New Orleans finished with only 15 assists as a team and shot 39 percent (32-of-82). By contrast, Denver had 30 assists on 39 baskets and shot 45.9 percent.

Denver led by as many as 16 points in the first half, when the Nuggets outshot the Pelicans 51.2 percent (22-of-43) to 36.4 percent (16-of-44). Denver was 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the half and Nurkic made his first six shots and had 13 points by halftime, when the Nuggets led 49-39.

New Orleans nearly overcame the sluggish start, chipping away and taking a 55-54 lead on Evans’ 3 with 6:44 left in the third quarter. Evans then added a 19-foot jumper to put the Pelicans up by 3.

New Orleans had entered the game 15-5 at home, and the crowd was energized by the comeback, but Denver remained composed.

Lawson and Afflalo buried back-to-back 3s to give the Nuggets the lead right back. The game remained close after that, and was tied at 70 heading into the fourth.

Eric Gordon missed his first nine shots and finished with 11 points on 4 of 15 shooting, including a 3 that pulled the Pelicans to 86-85 with 2:55 to go.

That, however, turned out to be New Orleans’ last basket.

TIP-INS

Nuggets: JaVale McGee, who has not played since Dec. 5, mostly because of a strained muscle in his lower left leg, was active and in uniform but wound up missing his 27th consecutive game. ... The Nuggets defeated New Orleans 117-97 in the teams’ only other meeting this season on Nov. 21 in Denver.

Pelicans: Owner Tom Benson, who is being sued by estranged heirs for control of his NBA team and the NFL’s Saints, attended the game in a suite. The crowd cheered when he waved to the camera while being shown on large video boards. He also conducted a brief TV interview during the game broadcast in which he said, “People think there’s something wrong with me. I’ve been in the office every day putting in a full day of work and I’m doing fine.”

UP NEXT

Nuggets: Visit Memphis on Thursday.

Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

Jan 28, 2015
Phillips makes return to Denver


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