Faried, Nuggets rally past Magic
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kenneth Faried scored 19 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets edge the Orlando Magic, 108-105, at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night.
Ty Lawson had 19 points and eight assists, Andre Miller donated 18 points and Danilo Gallinari chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Nuggets, who have won three straight.
Jameer Nelson poured in 20 points to go with eight assists and J.J. Redick added 17 points off the bench for the Magic, losers in 10 straight.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Andrew Nicholson and Arron Afflalo scored 12 points apiece, DeQuan Jones added 11 and Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards in the setback.
"It's 10 games in a row. I don't know what else to say except we have to play better and win," Afflalo said.
Josh McRoberts' layup with 9 1/2 minutes left gave Orlando an 83-75 lead, but Denver was able to cut it to 87-83 just over two minutes later following a Faried slam.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nelson buried a triple to put the Magic up 94-87, but Andre Iguodala countered with a 3-ball of his own to make it a four-point game.
Faired scored the game's next three points to pull the Nuggets within 94-93, and a pair of Miller free throws gave Denver its first lead since the seven-minute mark in the third.
The teams traded blows until Nelson converted three free throws after he was fouled attempting a trey to put Orlando up 99-97 with just under 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Iguodala, though, found Faried for an alley-oop to tie the game moments later.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After both sides went nearly a minute without a basket, Lawson's layup put the Nuggets up for good.
Lawson took the ball on the right wing, took one dribble to his left then spun toward the baseline to shake his defender and dropped it in as he was fouled. Lawson sunk the subsequent free throw to put Denver ahead 102-99.
McRoberts found Redick on a backdoor cut, but Redick's layup rolled off the rim. After the ball was knocked out of bounds on the ensuing possession the Nuggets ran a brilliant inbounds play to take a 104-99 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gallinari set a pick for Iguodala on the left block, then turned toward Miller, who found Gallinari all alone for a thunderous dunk.
Afflalo buried a 3-ball to pull the Magic within 104-102, but Iguodala's lay- in with 19.2 ticks left gave the Nuggets a 106-102 advantage. Lawson and Brewer each split a pair free throws for a 108-103 lead and Maurice Harkless' layup at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.
"We need these types of wins where we have to grind it out," said Iguodala.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Orlando lead 30-22 after the first 12 minutes, but the Nuggets were able to cut it to 55-53 at the break. The Magic outscored Denver 22-17 in the third to take a 77-70 lead into the fourth.
Game Notes
Denver outscored Orlando by a 68-52 margin in the paint and had 25 second chance points while holding the Magic to 14 points on second opportunities ... The Nuggets missed 14 free throws (22-for-36), but still made 13 more than the Magic, who went 9-for-10 from the stripe ... Denver set an NBA season low with seven personal fouls.