TORONTO – Will Barton came off the bench to score 22 points and Danilo Gallinari added another 21 as the Denver Nuggets stopped an eight-game losing streak, beating the Toronto Raptors 106-105 Thursday night.
Denver avoided its first nine-game losing streak since the 2002-03 season, when it dropped 14 in a row.
Joffrey Lauvergne had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets.
DeMar DeRozan scored a Raptors’ season-high 34 points and Kyle Lowry had 16.
The Nuggets never trailed, with Gallinari’s jump shot 1:41 into the game putting them ahead to stay. A desperation 3 by Lowry as time expired closed the final deficit to one point.
Toronto appeared to make a game of it by starting the third quarter on an 11-3 run. But Gallinari made three 3-pointers and the Nuggets led by 10 going into the final period.
Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay had eight assists in the first half and Denver shot at a 47.8 percent clip, taking an 18-point lead.
Nuggets first-year head coach Michael Malone is no stranger to Toronto. His father, Brendan, was the first head coach in Raptors franchise history.
Denver improved to 1-5 in the second half of back-to-back games this season after losing in Chicago on Wednesday night.
Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay went head-to-head with fellow Congo native Bismack Biyombo in the NBA for the first time.
The Raptors are the only team in the NBA yet to play two consecutive home games, the game was the first a six-game home streak for Toronto.
Lowry, who set a franchise record by scoring 22 fourth-quarter points in Wednesday’s win in Atlanta while dealing with flu-like symptoms, was in the starting lineup and “100 percent,” head coach Dwane Casey said.
Denver will visit Philadelphia on Saturday. Toronto will play host to Golden State on Saturday.
