Nuggets 121, Mavericks 120
Arron Afflalo hit a jumper as time expired and scored 19 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the host Denver Nuggets ended the Dallas Mavericks’ 11-game winning streak with a dramatic 121-120 victory on Thursday.
Afflalo’s decisive 19-footer off a pass from Chauncey Billups came after Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki made one of two free throws with 19.6 seconds left.
Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points before fouling out, and Billups had 30 points and nine assists for Denver (31-23). Both players made five 3-point baskets and Afflalo had four.
Jason Terry scored 25 points and had six 3-point baskets for the Mavericks (37-16), who led by nine with less than three minutes left.
Afflalo scored five straight points, Anthony hit a 3 and Nene made one of two free throws to tie the score at 119 with 33.3 seconds left, and set up the game-ending sequence.
Tyson Chandler had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which also received 19 points from Shawn Marion, 17 from J.J. Barea and 16 from Nowitzki.
Billups had 18 first-quarter points, including four 3-pointers and 6-of-8 shooting as Denver jumped out to a 33-19 lead.
The Nuggets increased their advantage to 39-21 early in the second quarter before Dallas rolled off 11 straight points and eventually tied the score at 52 on Chandler’s free throw.
Denver was 15 for 31 from 3-point range and Dallas was 11 for 25.