Denver took the lead for good at 92-91 when LaFrentz followed Nick Van Exel's shot with 39.4 seconds left.
Eric Piatkowski was charged with an offensive foul with 17.6 seconds remaining, and Van Exel hit a pair of free throws to give the Nuggets a three-point advantage.
The Nuggets (7-9) snapped a four-game losing streak and won their seventh straight at home over the Clippers. They were paced by LaFrentz's 26 points and 15 rebounds. Van Exel contributed 18 points and James Posey added 12 and five steals.
 Darius Miles won this battle, but the Nuggets won the war. William R. Sallaz/NBAE/Getty Images |
"Raef was terrific," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said. " We talked before the game about stopping second shots. But they couldn't stop ours. Raef had some really big second shots. We had some breaks go our way, we got some calls, we got offensive rebounds, and some other things went our way.
The Clippers (7-9) had a two-game winning streak broken. They have lost four of their past six games.
"We had opportunities to win," coach Alvin Gentry said. "On the road you play to have the opportunity to win down the stretch. We didn't shoot well the first quarter. We were 4-for-23, less than 20 percent. You have a tough time winning shooting like that."
Los Angeles was led by reserve Quentin Richardson's 26 points, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter. Elton Brand added 17 points but was held scoreless in the fourth, which began with the game tied at 66-66.
The Clippers led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter, 74-66, with 9:36 remaining. But Denver went on a 14-2 run over the next 2:12 and the game was close thereafter.
Piatkowski was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in 19 minutes.
The Clippers shot just 4-of-23 in the first quarter and were behind, 24-14, after 12 minutes. But they made 13-of-20 shots in the second to take a 45-44 lead at the break.
Los Angeles made just 15-of-25 free throws. Denver was 17-of-22.
"We missed too many free throws," Odom said. "That's how you lose games in the NBA."
"We have to come out and play from the jump," Brand said. "Denver is a pretty good team, even without (the injured Antonio) McDyess. We took a lead at halftime and in the fourth quarter but we couldn't hold it. They wanted the win a little bit more than we did."