NEW ORLEANS - Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson werent going to let the Denver Nuggets fall apart again — not even after they had blown a 16-point lead on the road.
Michael Jordan Jersey .The New Orleans Pelicans, meanwhile, lost for the first time in five games, and can only hope
they wont 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.Weve been in a lot of
games down the stretch during our losing streak and were 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 didnt like the way he looked, Williams said. You cant 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 Denvers lead to 89-85. Then the
Nuggets shut out the Pelicans the rest of the way.Thats what we need to do every
game, Lawson said of Denvers defensive effort in the final minutes. We probably
wont be that successful to shut somebody down for three minutes, but just make
it hard for them, dont 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 Denvers 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 per cent (32 of 82). Denver
had 30 assists on 39 baskets and shot 45.9 per cent.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
... Im not going to say people were selfish, but we just werent 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 per cent (22 of 43) to 36.4 per cent (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.TIP-INSNuggets:
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 still wound up
missing his 27th straight game. Coach Brian Shaw said he did not think McGee had
practiced enough to return.Pelicans: Owner Tom Benson, who is being sued by
estranged heirs for control of his NBA team and the NFLs 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 theres something wrong with me. Ive
been in the office every day putting in a full day of work and Im doing fine.UP
NEXTNuggets: Visit Memphis on Thursday.Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Clippers
on Friday.
Authentic Wes Unseld Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. San Antonio took the series lead
Monday night with a 122-105 home victory in Game 1. The Spurs used a balanced
scoring attack and clamped down defensively late in the third quarter to claim
the win.
Juwan Howard Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have fired receivers coach Ike Hilliard.HAMILTON, Ont. -- Alexa Vasko scored the
go-ahead goal shorthanded to lead the host Stoney Creek Sabres over the Sudbury
Lady Wolves 2-1 in round-robin play at the Esso Cup womens midget hockey
championship Tuesday. Emily Calligan also scored for the undefeated Sabres
(3-0-0-0) and goaltender Hannah Miller made 24 saves. Karli Shell was the lone
goal scorer for the Lady Wolves (1-2-0-0). Stephanie Pascal stopped 22 shots in
the loss. Earlier, Caitlin Dempsey scored twice, including the winner on a
third-period power play, and Jane Kish made 38 saves as the Weyburn Gold Wings
edged the Fraser Valley Phantom 3-2 for their third straight win. Bailee
Bourassa scored the other Gold Wings (3-0-0-0) goal, while KKassidy Sjostrand
chipped in with two assists.
John Wall Wizards Jersey. Brianna Keats and Mikayla Ogrodniczuk scored for the Phantom (0-3-0-0), and Valencia Yordanov
stopped 21 shots in the loss. In the first game of the day, Faith Steeves scored
three goals as the Moncton Rockets earned their first win at the Esso Cup, a 5-4
victory over the Edmonton Thunder. Brooke Murphy had the other two goals for
Moncton (1-2-0-0) while Sarah Johnson and Isabelle Letourneau each added two
assists. Brianne Waterman was sharp in goal with 42 saves. Alexandra Poznikoff
had two goals and an assist for Edmonton (1-2-0-0), Nicole Gorda had a goal and
two assists, and Amy Boucher also scored. Tracie Kikuchi made 17 saves.
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