Nuggets 76, Pacers 73
Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 19 points as Denver prevailed against visiting Indiana in a contest featuring poor shooting.
Ty Lawson had 15 points and 10 assists and Timofey Mozgov collected 15 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Nuggets, who have won six straight home games against the Pacers. J.J. Hickson added 10 points for Denver, which won despite shooting just 36.6 percent from the field.
David West had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Pacers, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games and have dropped eight straight on the road. C.J. Miles added 16 points off the bench for Indiana, which shot 30.7 percent from the field.
Indiana scored the first five points of the final quarter before missing eight straight shots as Denver scored 10 consecutive points to take a 65-60 lead with 6:54 remaining. Wilson Chandler drained a 3-pointer and Kenneth Faried followed with a dunk to give the Nuggets a 74-68 advantage with 1:50 to play but the Pacers pulled within 74-73 on Donald Sloan’s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left and Denver got two free throws from Arron Afflalo before Miles missed a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Both teams short poorly – Denver at 33.3 percent and Indiana at 29.3 – in a first half that ended with Indiana holding a 33-32 lead. The Nuggets led by six late in the third quarter before the Pacers closed with an 8-2 run for a tie at 55 entering the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nuggets were 2-of-16 from 3-point range. … Pacers PG Rodney Stuckey had four points on 1-of-10 shooting to snap a string of eight consecutive double-digit scoring outings. … Denver F Darrell Arthur (leg) missed his second straight game.