Nuggets 96, Raptors 81
Rudy Fernandez scored a season-high 23 points and the Denver Nuggets never trailed en route to a 96-81 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Friday for their sixth straight win.
Andre Miller added 13 points and matched a season high with 12 assists for his third straight double-double as the Nuggets won their ninth in a row and 14th in their last 15 against the Raptors.
Nene had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Danilo Gallinari scored 21 for Denver, which improved to 8-0 against the Eastern Conference and allowed a season low in points.
Leandro Barbosa had 19 points and Jerryd Bayless added 18 for the Raptors, who fell to 0-7 without Andrea Bargnani. The 7-foot center re-aggravated his calf injury Wednesday and is out indefinitely.
The Nuggets raced to an 18-4 lead and led by as many as 23 in the second quarter, when Fernandez, who missed the last two games with an Achilles injury, provided 10 points.
James Johnson helped Toronto trim a 22-point halftime deficit to 11 with 12 of his 16 points in the third quarter, and Barbosa’s 3-pointer brought the Raptors to 80-74 with 9:37 left in the fourth.
Fernandez, though, restored Denver’s double-digit lead with a 3-pointer to make it 85-74 with 8:10 remaining and Toronto didn’t get closer than eight the rest of the way. Fernandez finished 9 for 11 from the floor, including 5 for 7 from 3-point range.
Miller’s 60-foot heave at the buzzer gave Denver a 28-12 lead after one quarter.