DENVER – Ty Lawson had 29 points and 12 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the slumping Dallas Mavericks 114-107 on Wednesday night.
Kenneth Faried scored four of his 22 points down the stretch and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the Nuggets run their winning streak to five.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle gave three of his best players the night off after an overtime victory Tuesday night in Sacramento. Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Rajon Rondo rested while Raymond Felton, Richard Jefferson and Greg Smith started. It was the first starts for Felton and Smith.
The starters struggled for much of the night, leaving the bench to keep the Mavericks in the game. The Dallas reserves scored 62 points, led by J.J. Barea with 17.
Richard Jefferson scored 16 points for Dallas, which has lost three of four.
Jefferson and Chandler Parsons awoke in the fourth to bring the Mavericks back. The pair led Dallas on a 15-5 run that cut it to three late in the game. Devin Harris missed two tying 3-pointers, and Faried hit two free throws and a layup to make it 108-101 with 1:19 left.
The Nuggets, like Dallas, had only 10 available players after Tuesday’s trade that sent guard Nate Robinson to Boston for Jameer Nelson. Lawson played a bulk of the game to help get Denver (18-20) closer to .500.
Denver took control of the game early in the third quarter. After Parsons’ 3-pointer made it 61-55 the Nuggets scored 13 straight points to take a 74-55 lead midway through the period.
Dallas got within eight after a 12-1 run but Denver led 90-78 going into the fourth.
