Nuggets 105, Wizards 102
Kenneth Faried collected 20 points and eight rebounds as Denver held off visiting Washington.
Randy Foye scored 17 points and Darrell Arthur added 15 off the bench for the Nuggets, who scored 30 points off 24 Wizards turnovers. Aaron Brooks recorded 13 points and seven assists as Denver won for the fifth time in seven games.
Bradley Beal scored 21 points to lead Washington, which closed out its four-game road trip with a 1-3 mark. Trevor Ariza scored 18 points and Marcin Gortat recorded 16 points and 10 boards as the Wizards dropped two games behind the Brooklyn Nets in the race for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Washington grabbed an 83-82 lead on Drew Gooden’s jumper with 8:40 left before the Nuggets took off on a 9-1 run capped by Arthur’s 3-pointer with 6:41 to play. John Wall’s steal and layup cut the deficit to 99-97 with 12.6 seconds left but Denver went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final seconds to put it away.
The Wizards led by as much as 14 points in the first quarter before settling for a 49-47 edge at the break. The Nuggets scored the final six points of the third quarter to grab a 77-73 lead heading into the fourth before Washington made a run at the beginning of the period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington G Andre Miller, who was traded by the Nuggets after being suspended earlier in the season, scored two points in 13 minutes against his former team. … Denver played its first game since J.J. Hickson (knee) became the fourth player on the team to go down with a season-ending injury. … Wall scored 15 points but had twice as many turnovers (eight) as assists (four).