Nuggets-Clippers Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Feb 02 2012 3:10AM

Despite closing out January with back-to-back defeats, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl had nothing but praise for his team's overall effort last month.

Opening February on a high note, though, could prove difficult with a road matchup against the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers in store.

Beginning their second back-to-back-to-back stretch of the season, the Nuggets try to avoid a fourth consecutive loss to the surging Clippers when the teams meet for the second time this week Thursday night.

Two days after its season-best six-game winning streak came to an end with a 109-105 loss to Los Angeles, Denver (14-7) suffered a 100-97 overtime defeat at Memphis on Tuesday. While the Nuggets concluded January in disappointing fashion, they finished the month 12-5 to move into third place in the Western Conference. They sit just a few percentage points behind the second-place Clippers (13-6).

"We've had a great month of January," Karl told the NBA's official website. "It might have been the best month I've ever had in Denver in my mind."

Things aren't about to get any easier for Denver, which after Thursday's matchup, hosts the Lakers on Friday before visiting Portland on Saturday. The Nuggets lost the opener of their first back-to-back-to-back set Dec. 31-Jan. 2 before winning the final two games.

After posting a season-best fourth consecutive victory Wednesday, the Clippers are looking to win five in a row for the first time since Nov. 2-12, 2006.

Chris Paul recorded a season-high 34 points and 11 assists while Blake Griffin scored 31 to go along with 14 rebounds as Los Angeles defeated Utah 107-105 - snapping a 16-game road losing streak versus the Jazz.

"This was a pretty good win for us ... We didn't know the history of that (the Clippers losing 42 of their previous 43 in Salt Lake City) but it's a new team right here," Paul said.

"The sky's the limit. We have all the pieces to be a great team. We got to keep getting better defensively, but we have the closers, we have the shot blockers, we have the shooters and everything that you need."

The Clippers are averaging 106.5 points while shooting 49.5 percent from the field during their run.

"We're tired, but we have another game (Thursday) night against a very difficult opponent," coach Vinny Del Negro said of facing Denver. "We're going to have to get ready."

After spending the majority of the previous three seasons with the Nuggets before signing with Los Angeles following the lockout, Chauncey Billups made 6 of 12 from 3-point range in putting up a season-high 32 points against his former team Sunday.

Ty Lawson, who was held out of that matchup with a sprained left ankle, had 12 points versus the Grizzlies in his return from a two-game absence. Danilo Gallinari, meanwhile, was held to eight points on 1 of 10 shooting against Memphis after averaging 23.8 over his previous five games.

Andre Miller, averaging 15.1 points in his last seven contests, will play in his 1,000th regular-season game Thursday.

"It means something to me just because I enjoy being on the basketball court," he told the team's official website. "I take pride in practicing and being on the court. I don't like to miss games."

The Nuggets lead the league with 105.4 points per game.

The Clippers' Caron Butler was a late scratch Wednesday with a sore lower back. His status for Thursday is unknown.

Nuggets beat Clippers 112-91 behind Gallinari's 21

By BETH HARRIS
Posted Feb 03 2012 2:07AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Blake Griffin got Mozgov'd attempting one of his high-flying dunks, hitting the floor and taking the Los Angeles Clippers down with him.

Timofey Mozgov's hard foul on the All-Star came in a dominant third quarter that helped Denver win 112-91 Thursday night and end the Clippers' season-high four-game winning streak that included a victory over the Nuggets last weekend.

Danilo Gallinari scored 21 points, including all five of his 3-pointers, Ty Lawson added 18 points, Arron Afflalo 15 and Mozgov 11 for the Nuggets, who had lost two straight overall and three in a row to the Clippers, their longest active losing streak against any team.

Mozgov sent Griffin to the court and he struck his head.

"It rattled me a little bit," said Griffin, who missed both free throws. "It was a good foul, a hard foul."

Gallinari said, "`We know that once Blake takes off, it's almost impossible to block his shot. So you've got to find him before he takes off. Timo was able to be on the weak side at the right time. It was a tough foul, but sometimes you've got to do it."

Credit former Clipper Andre Miller with the suggestion.

"He had a lot of dunks on us in the first half, and Andre Miller said, `The next time he tries to dunk the ball, let's try to put him on his behind,"' Al Harrington said. "He almost still made it, but it was a hard foul and he missed. It was a definitely a statement for us, defensively, and it set a precedent for how we were going to play the rest of the game. Teams try to bully us because we play so fast, so it was good to be on the other end of it for once."

Griffin led the Clippers with 18 points, Chris Paul added 15 points and nine assists, and Caron Butler had 11 after missing Wednesday night's win at Utah with a sore lower back. Earlier Thursday, Griffin and Paul were voted to the starting lineup for the All-Star game, giving the Clippers two players on the team for the first time since 1976.

"I'm humbled," Griffin said. "A lot of guys deserve that and I appreciate the fans voting me in."

The Nuggets pulled away in the third when they outscored the Clippers 32-16 while shooting 65 percent. Gallinari hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the quarter, and Harrington closed it with two straight 3-pointers.

"They got out in transition and we did a poor job of getting back," Griffin said. "We kind of went cold there in the third. We were definitely tired. Four games in five nights is tough, but it's no excuse. We got to protect our homecourt better than that."

In between, Mozgov had nine points while Los Angeles slumped to 7 of 19 from the floor. Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Clippers closed within 10 points midway through the period before getting outscored 14-5 going into the fourth.

"We knew we had to be more aggressive throughout the game, especially with them playing a back-to-back," Gallinari said. "We did it and we were able to come up with a good stretch and were able to win the game in the third quarter."

All five of the Clippers' starters began the fourth on the bench, although Paul checked in 2:10 into the period with his team trailing by 21. He was the only starter to return and he sat down for good a couple minutes later, leaving Mo Williams to run a second unit that never posed a threat. Williams finished with 13 and Randy Foye 17.

"It's gone," Paul said of the result. "Hopefully this doesn't happen again."

Chauncey Billups, who had 32 points in the Clippers' 109-105 win at Denver on Sunday, had eight points and three assists against his old team.

The Clippers led most of the first half before Denver outscored them 9-4 to lead 54-51 at the break.

NOTES: Nuggets reserve G-F Corey Brewer wasn't with the team for personal reasons. Coach George Karl said he thought Brewer could be out the rest of the week. ... Billups played in his 1,000th career NBA game as did the Nuggets' Miller. ... Rihanna, Billy Crystal and Don Cheadle were among the sellout crowd that included retired Nuggets coach Dan Issel.

Notebook: Nuggets 112, Clippers 91

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Friday February 3, 2012 1:49AM

THE FACTS: Looking for a good start to their second three-games-in-three-nights stretch, the Nuggets rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit Thursday night and ran away from the Clippers in the second, avoiding their first three-game losing streak of the season with a 112-91 victory at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "In a lot of ways, that was the best game we played all year."
-- Nuggets coach George Karl.

THE STAT: Nuggets guard Andre Miller, a former member of the Clippers, and L.A. guard Chauncey Billups, who spent parts of five seasons in Denver, each appeared in their 1,000th career game Thursday night. Miller finished with eight points and eight assists off the bench. Billups, who torched the Nuggets for 32 points Sunday in Denver, also scored eight points.

TURNING POINT: Trailing by three points coming out of the half, the Clippers looked like they received a shot of momentum when 6-foot-11 center DeAndre Jordan blocked Nene's shot on the opening possession, his fifth swat of the game. Unfortunately for the Clippers, the ball came out to hot-shooting forward Danilo Gallinari, who sank a spot-up 3-pointer to ignite a 13-4 run and the Clippers never cut the deficit back to single digits.

HOT: The Clippers continued their trend of fast starts, outscoring the Nuggets 32-19 in the first quarter. The Clippers have scored at least 29 points in the opening 12 minutes in nine of the last 16 games. They also pushed their first-quarter scoring average to 30.9 points, tops in the NBA ... Gallinari, who signed a multi-year contract extension last week, finished with 21 points, hitting all five 3-point attempts. Gallinari has scored at least 20 points in five of the last seven games and 10 overall.

NOT: Ever since the huge game Sunday against his former team, Billups has struggled to regain his shot. He was 2-for-9 in the rematch against the Nuggets, a night after shooting 1-for-8 in Utah.

GOOD MOVE: Karl gave shooting guard Arron Afflalo the assignment of guarding Clippers point guard Chris Paul, who was coming off a monster performance against the Jazz, scoring a season-high 34 points and handing out 11 assists to lead the Clippers to just their second win in Utah since 1989. With a five-inch height advantage on Paul, the former Compton resident was able to turn Paul into more of a distributor than scorer, and he finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting with nine assists.

BAD MOVE: Jordan was slowed by a hyper-extended left knee suffered against the Jazz and it showed in his mobility. Still, when the Nuggets went small with 6-foot-9 Al Harrington in the middle, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro opted to keep Jordan on the floor, even though Blake Griffin could have guarded him, with Ryan Gomes or Caron Butler playing power forward. Surprisingly, Del Negro also reinserted Paul in the game with the Clippers trailing by 20 points and just under 11 minutes remaining in the fourth. Paul was the only Clippers starter to play in the final quarter.

QUOATABLE II: "We played hard for about a period and a half and then the floodgates opened up."
-- Vinny Del Negro.

NOTABLE: Denver avoided losing a third straight game for the first time this season. The Nuggets are the only team in the league that has not lost four straight since 2006-07 season ... The Nuggets also ended a three-game losing streak to the Clippers, their longest active losing streak against any NBA opponent ... The Clippers, who are on the road until Feb. 15, were trying to win five straight games for the first time since November 2006.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Saturday @ Washington, Monday @ Orlando, Wednesday @ Cleveland. For the Nuggets, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Saturday @ Portland, Monday vs. Houston.

• Nuggets: Brewer, Stone
• Clippers: Bledsoe

• Nuggets: --
• Clippers: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #6 Tony Brown, #42 Eric Lewis
• Attendance: 19223
• Duration: 2:20