George Karl has won his 1000th game as an NBA coach as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Toronto Raptors 123-116 on Friday night at the Air Canada Center.
With the victory, Karl joins Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and Larry Brown in the 1000 victory club.
Al Harrington helped his coach by erasing a mini-slump and pouring in a season-high 31 points on 12-19 shooting. Chauncey Billups also recovered from a season-low five points on Wednesday and scored 21.
Nene added 26 and J.R. Smith 11 for Denver.
Gary Forbes, who started in place of an injured Carmelo Anthony, shone in the second half, finishing with 15 after having two at half.
Former Nuggets Linas Kleiza and Sonny Weems made Denver fans reminisce of about their time in powder blue. Kleiza ended with a team high 26 points while also grabbing 12 boards. Weems finished with 21 points.
Melo is considered day-to-day with his injured knee, but should play on Sunday when the Nuggets go to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks. Set your alarms though as the game tips at 10:00 a.m. MT.