DENVER, Feb. 3 (Ticker) -- Even when they have the league's worst record, the Denver Nuggets can look forward to a visit from the Memphis Grizzlies.

Juwan Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Rodney White scored all eight of his points in the decisive fourth quarter as the Nuggets extended their home winning streak over the Grizzlies to 11 games with a 93-78 victory.

Denver has the worst record in the league, just slightly ahead of Memphis, which has not won at the Pepsi Center since November 18, 1997. The Nuggets defeated the Grizzlies at home for the second time this season after a lopsided fourth quarter.

Chris Whitney netted five of his 15 points to start the fourth as Denver scored nine straight points to open the period. He sparked the run with a jumper to give the Nuggets the lead for good at 71-68 and added a pair of free throws at the 10:22 mark.

Ryan Bowen sank a jumper and threw an alley-oop to Chris Anderson for a 77-68 cushion with 9:21 to go.

The Nuggets scored 21 of the first 27 points in the final quarter while the Grizzlies made only one of their first nine shots.

"You cannot go into the fourth quarter shooting 1-of-9," Memphis coach Hubie Brown said. "They outhustled and outmuscled us. Denver deserves all the credit for defending us."

"We finally completed a game where we had the lead in the second half and came out on top," Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "I thought everyone played well, it was a great all-around effort. It has been a slow work in progress, where our guards recognize who has the hot hand and get the ball to them."

Denver held a 55-38 rebounding advantage, 15-3 in the fourth quarter, and snapped a seven-game losing streak.

"We finished the game tonight, made some shots and made some stops on defense," said Howard, who made 11-of-23 shots. "The guards wanted to get me the ball, even though I was double-teamed. They kept feeding me and I took advantage of it."

Rookie Junior Harrington collected eight points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who dished out 27 assists compared to only 13 for the Grizzlies.

"At halftime, coach said that the guards need to get more rebounds," Harrington said. "That is what happens when everyone plays their part. We especially wanted to finish strong tonight."

Rookie Drew Gooden scored 16 points and Pau Gasol collected 13 and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which has lost five straight and eight of its last nine.

"The first group is just not getting it going," Gooden said. "We've got to work hard to get it back on track."

Gooden and Gasol combined to make only 11-of-33 shots as the Grizzlies shot just 35 percent (27-of-77) from the floor, going 4-of-17 from 3-point range.

Memphis had its biggest lead of the game at 42-36 after a 3-pointer by Jason Williams with 4:45 left in the second quarter. Neither team led by more than seven points until the fourth.

Howard scored the final eight points of the first half for Denver, but Gasol buried a jumper and Mike Batiste closed the second quarter with a pair of free throws to give Memphis a 49-47 halftime edge.