Having led the entire game on the heels of eight Desmond Jenningsstraight losses, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone wasn't about to fool around when it came to icing a long-awaited victory Thursday night.Nursing an eight-point lead against the Toronto Raptors with seven minutes to go, he reinserted his veterans in the hope that they could lead the team to its first victory since Nov. 17 in New Orleans.While the Raptors narrowed that advantage to just two points with 3:43 remaining, the Nuggets hung on for ahttp://www.officialraysshop.com/authentic-3-evan-longoria-jersey.html 106-105 win.''I went with a veteran group tonight, back to back, on the road and in a must-win situation where we're just dying for a win,'' Malone said. ''So I wanted to go with our vets, I just thought we'd have a better chance.''Will Barton came off the http://www.officialraysshop.com/authentic-57-jake-mcgee-jersey.htmlbench to score 22 points and Danilo Gallinari added another 21 for the Nuggets. Joffrey Lauvergne had 14 points and 10 rebounds.Denver was a perfect 18 for 18 on free throws. The Nuggets avoided their first nine-game losing streak since the 2002-03 season, when they dropped 14 in a row.DeMar DeRozan scored a Raptors' season-high 34 points and Kyle Lowry had 16.The Nuggets never trailed, with Gallinari's jump Shin-Soo Choo Jerseyshot 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 http://www.officialmlbrangersshop.com/authentic-11-yu-darvish-jersey.htmlto 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.''We've got to get a level of play that we decide we're going to play at from the start of the game to the end of the game,'' Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ''We can't wait to get our teeth kicked in before we start to play.''
↧