Lafrentz shot 12-of-18 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds while Van Exel made 10-of-24 shots and dished out 11 assists. Denver, which snapped a five-game losing streak, shot 49 percent overall (40-of-81).
LaFrentz scored eight points in the fourth and recorded his 10th double-double of the season.
Calbert Cheaney's jumper with 6:08 left in the third quarter gave Denver a 68-59 lead. But Cleveland closed out the period on a 14-4 run and took a 73-72 lead on Ricky Davis' layup as time expired.
20110.jpg) Raef Lafrentz got up for this shot, and for this game, pouring in a season-high 29 points. William R. Sallaz /NBAE/Getty Images |
Denver had lost nine games by five points or less this season, mostly due to a lack of execution. In its last home game, an 82-80 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, the Nuggets held the Clippers scoreless for nearly six minutes in the fourth and still lost.
"We've been in so many close games and we got a little breathing room in this one and got a win," Denver coach Mike Evans said. "When you shoot 49 percent like we did tonight, it makes it a whole lot easier to coach."
"This was a great win for us," forward Ryan Bowen added. "I thought it was coming down to the last play but we had a pretty good lead down the stretch. It's good to know that we can get a close one. You'd like to blow out a team or win by 10 but it's a tough league."
Avery Johnson hit two jumpers around a layup by Lafrentz, and Van Exel sank a free throw to cap a 7-0 run as Denver took the lead for good, 96-89, with 18 seconds left.
"We haven't been playing all that well," Johnson said. "So it's good to get a win in front of our fans, to keep them encouraged and to keep our confidence. We ran a play where Van Exel got trapped and we thought Raef would be open. I ended up with the open shot. We just needed to get a win.
"We executed during the last two minutes of the game. Bowen does the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet and Cheaney helps us by playing above the rim."
LaFrentz's rebounded Van Exel's missed jumper for the basket and then he deflected Andre Miller's pass intended for Zydrunas Ilgauskas. That led to Johnson's jumper which sealed the win.
Ilgauskas had nine points and gave Cleveland its final lead, 87-86 with 4:38 left on a jumper over LaFrentz. But he shot 3-of-12 in the game and missed a tip-in that could have tied the game with 2:41 to go.
"We're a young team and we made young mistakes," Cleveland coach John Lucas said. "I liked our energy. I went with the players that I thought would do it and they couldn't do it down the stretch."
"We should have won this game," added Cavaliers guard Bimbo Coles. "They're also a struggling team and this was a must win for us. We have a tough road trip ahead and it's not going to get any easier."
Lamond Murray paced the Cavs with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Cleveland shot just under 42 percent (35-of-84) overall.
Denver started slowly, going scoreless for a three-minute stretch in the opening quarter. LaFrentz had 11 points as the Nuggets trailed 28-26 following Van Exel's 3-pointer at the buzzer.
A jumper by Van Exel gave the Nuggets their first lead, 42-40, with 4:02 left in the half. But the Cavs held a 52-48 advantage at halftime.
Cleveland has lost four in a row and seven of its last nine contests.