The Denver Nuggets used a late dunk from Al Harrington on an assist from Aaron Afflalo to secure a 108-104 road victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. The slam from Harrington capped a night in which the back up forward continued is scintillating season with a 29-point night, which led the team. Harrington also added seven rebounds to pace the second unit along with back up center Chris Anderson, who scooped up eight rebounds.
The Nuggets came out sluggish in the first half, falling behind 37-27 by the end of the first quarter. But the Denver defense tightened up considerably, and big second and third quarters allowed the Nuggets to enter the fourth quarter with a five point lead. The Wizards would take a 98-97 lead with a little over four minutes to go on a Jordan Crawford three pointer, but they would relinquish the lead on an Afflalo lay up with two minutes and never get it back.
Aside from Harrington, the Nuggets received big games from Ty Lawson— who put up 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists— and Danilo Gallinari, who tallied 21 points on 7-11 shooting to go along with five assists and four rebounds. For the Wizards, John Wall sniffed a triple-double, totaling 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, but his 4-17 shooting from the field was symptomatic of how things went for Washington, who only shot 42% as a team.
The Nuggets will head up to the Big Apple to face the New York Knicks, in Gallinari's return to Madison Square Garden as a Nugget.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage of the Nuggets, visit Denver Stiffs. News and analysis on the Wizards is available at Bullets Forever, And for more news and notes from around the NBA, head over to SB Nation's NBA news hub.
The Nuggets came out sluggish in the first half, falling behind 37-27 by the end of the first quarter. But the Denver defense tightened up considerably, and big second and third quarters allowed the Nuggets to enter the fourth quarter with a five point lead. The Wizards would take a 98-97 lead with a little over four minutes to go on a Jordan Crawford three pointer, but they would relinquish the lead on an Afflalo lay up with two minutes and never get it back.
Aside from Harrington, the Nuggets received big games from Ty Lawson— who put up 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists— and Danilo Gallinari, who tallied 21 points on 7-11 shooting to go along with five assists and four rebounds. For the Wizards, John Wall sniffed a triple-double, totaling 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, but his 4-17 shooting from the field was symptomatic of how things went for Washington, who only shot 42% as a team.
The Nuggets will head up to the Big Apple to face the New York Knicks, in Gallinari's return to Madison Square Garden as a Nugget.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage of the Nuggets, visit Denver Stiffs. News and analysis on the Wizards is available at Bullets Forever, And for more news and notes from around the NBA, head over to SB Nation's NBA news hub.