76ers 105, Nuggets 98
Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting off the bench as Philadelphia jumped out to a big lead and held off visiting Denver.
Robert Covington added 17 points and eight rebounds while Michael Carter-Williams collected 15 points, 12 assists and eight boards for the 76ers. JaKarr Sampson and K.J. McDaniels added 11 points apiece as Philadelphia won for the third time in five games.
Danilo Gallinari went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line en route to 22 points off the bench for the Nuggets, who have dropped 10 of 11. Wilson Chandler added 19 points and Arron Afflalo scored 14 while Ty Lawson handed out 14 assists.
Thompson scored 10 points during a 14-1 run bridging the first and second quarters that left the 76ers on top 39-28. Thompson buried another 3-pointer to make it 61-38 before Philadelphia settled for a 21-point lead at the break while the Nuggets stumbled into the locker room shooting 29.8 percent.
Larry Drew’s 3-pointer capped a 9-0 burst that pushed the lead to 79-51 before Denver began to fight back, bridging the third and fourth quarters with a 16-0 spurt that cut the deficit to 10 points with 10:34 to play. The Nuggets drew as close as 101-95 on Lawson’s layup with 25 seconds left before Covington and Carter-Williams sealed it at the line.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nuggets have been held under 100 points in nine of the last 11 games. … Lawson was held to five points on 1-of-4 shooting and is 9-of-35 from the field over the last four games. … Thompson went 6-of-6 from the field, 4-of-4 from beyond the arc and 3-of-3 from the line in the first half.