NBA

Regular Season Round 88: N.Orleans P. - Denver N. 85-93

Date: January 28, 2015
Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson weren't going to let the Denver Nuggets fall apart again - not even after they had blown a 16-point lead on the road. The New Orleans Pelicans, meanwhile, lost for the first time in five games, and can only hope they won't lose All-Star Anthony Davis for an extended period after he was hobbled by what team officials said was a left groin injury. Afflalo scored 20 points, Lawson handed out 13 assists and the Denver Nuggets snapped a seven-game losing streak, 93-85 over New Orleans on Wednesday night. "We've been in a lot of games down the stretch during our losing streak and we're learning how to win, how to have a sense of direction," Afflalo said. "Obviously, we had guys step up and make good shots." 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 to cheers with 8:44 left, but the Pelicans never regained the lead. Davis, who was expected to have an MRI on Thursday, was substituted back out of the game in the final minute and left the arena without speaking to media. "I just didn't like the way he looked," Williams said. "You can't risk guys' careers. He wants to be out there. Anyone would tell you that." Afflalo hit four 3-pointers, the last with 2:32 left to increase Denver's lead to 89-85. Then the Nuggets shut out the Pelicans the rest of the way. "That's what we need to do every game," Lawson said of Denver's defensive effort in the final minutes. "We probably won't be that successful to shut somebody down for three minutes, but just make it hard for them, don't let them get easy layups and easy jump shots in the last couple minutes." Jusuf Nurkic scored 15 for Denver, while Kenneth Faried had 14, highlighted by his soaring dunk over Davis and Dante Cunningham. Danilo Gallinari scored 11 points and hit three of Denver's 10 3-pointers. Tyreke Evans had 25 points for New Orleans, but only two assists from the point guard position after racking up double-digit assists in each of New Orleans previous two games. "Unfortunately, we had a bad shooting night," Williams said. New Orleans finished with only 15 assists as a team and shot 39 percent (32 of 82). Denver had 30 assists on 39 baskets and shot 45.9 percent. Lawson said that in studying recent game video, he noticed that good ball movement on the offensive end was "the difference between the good teams and us." "During our seven-game losing streak ... I'm not going to say people were selfish, but we just weren't moving the ball," Lawson said. 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). Nurkic made his first six shots and had 13 points by halftime, when the Nuggets led 49-39. New Orleans came back to take a 57-54 third-quarter lead on consecutive perimeter shots by Evans. The Pelicans 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, who missed his first nine shots and finished with 11 points on 4 of 15 shooting, hit a 3 that pulled the Pelicans to 86-85 with 2:55 to go. That, however, turned out to be New Orleans' last basket. Courtesy of: wspa.com
  DENVER N. (coach: David Adelman)93
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
65 SfflilI, SQQIj 47 4-1 (05%) 3-9 (09.6%) 8-8 (655%) 5 6 6 3 8 5 5 5 5 6 85 61 5
40 yiQaRd, KRjjRUh 48 1-66 (03.0%) 5-5 (5%) 8-4 (11.9%) 8 0 9 6 4 5 8 6 5 5 63 61 5
4 viTsIj, wF 48 6-65 (65%) 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 6 5 6 64 8 5 6 5 5 6 0 9 5
84 XuQVaZ, zusuf 87 9-7 (99.2%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 5 7 7 5 3 5 6 8 5 3 60 61 5
86 ChijdlRQ, WalsIj 82 4-9 (38.7%) 6-6 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 8 1 2 4 4 5 5 5 5 8 7 66 5
2 GillajiQa, gijalI 85 6-4 (44.4%) 4-0 (15%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 8 6 5 5 6 5 5 66 66 5
9 HaZVsIj, z.z. 67 0-65 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 8 4 0 8 5 5 5 5 5 5 65 68 5
5 SQUhuQ, giQQRll 62 8-9 (82.1%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 6 4 5 5 4 5 5 3 8 5
  XRlsIj, ziBRRQ 61 6-3 (80%) 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 4 3 4 3 5 5 5 5 5 8 6 5
3 yIFR, eijdF 1 5-6 (5%) 6-6 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5
wIUil   87-12 (38.9%) 65-69 (02.2%) 0-9 (96.3%) 2 46 47 45 88 5 3 9 5 2 74 70  


  N.ORLEANS P. (coach: Willie Green)85
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
65 GIQdIj, qQaZ 38 8-7 (88.8%) 8-1 (44.4%) 6-8 (05%) 6 0 1 1 4 5 5 6 5 8 66 9 5
33 CujjajDhiB, gijUR 47 4-9 (38.7%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 6 8 4 8 5 6 5 5 5 1 1 5
6 qLijs, wFQRVR 42 65-62 (00.1%) 6-3 (80%) 8-4 (11.9%) 8 3 1 8 4 5 6 5 5 3 80 60 5
84 giLas, SjUhIjF 49 2-60 (04.4%) 5-5 (5%) 2-65 (25%) 8 65 68 8 8 5 5 8 5 5 83 87 5
44 SjdRQsIj, eFij 87 4-9 (38.7%) 5-4 (5%) 0-0 (655%) 4 3 9 6 6 5 5 5 5 6 66 65 5
4 SsaV, PBRQ 82 6-4 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 8-3 (05%) 9 0 68 5 4 5 5 8 5 8 3 7 5
  OIjdRxURQ, ruajZF 61 8-4 (11.9%) 5-8 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 6 8 5 6 5 5 6 5 5 3 4 5
48 yQRdRUUR, zaBBRQ 2 5-4 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 -8 5
  WIlURQs, XiUR 4 5-8 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 -6 5
wIUil   87-19 (34.4%) 4-60 (85.5%) 62-83 (90.5%) 69 46 32 60 60 5 8 1 5 7 20 91  



Terms:
Field Goals :  2PM-A  (2 point Field Goal made-attempts)     3PM-A  (3 point Field Goal made-attempts)   FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive)  DEF (Defensive)   TOT  (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed)  RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor)  AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes)  AST (assists)  ST (steals)   TO (Turnovers)   PTS (points)  RNK (ranking)