Nuggets-Raptors Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Mar 27 2012 1:48PM

The Denver Nuggets were battling for the top spot in the Western Conference when they last faced the Toronto Raptors.

The Nuggets are now fighting just to stay in the playoff race.

Denver goes for a 10th consecutive victory over the Raptors on Wednesday night and fifth consecutive season series sweep.

After a 96-81 victory over Toronto (16-34) on Jan. 27, the Nuggets had the second-best record in the West at 14-5. They've since struggled to a 27-23 overall record but did improve to 1-2 on their current seven-game road trip with a 108-91 victory over league-best Chicago on Monday.

"It's a great win for us," Karl told the league's official website after his team improved to 13-1 against the East. "It can make this road trip a special trip for us."

It could be if the Nuggets decide to defend. Among the league's worst by allowing 102.3 points per game - 116.3 in its previous four games - Denver built a 13-point edge by limiting the Bulls to a 16 third-quarter points.

"I think individually we all take pride in guarding our man, but we just had to become a better defensive team, helping each other and communicating," said Ty Lawson, who matched a season high with 27 points.

The Raptors have plenty of room for improvement on the defensive end after giving up a season high in points in Monday's 117-101 loss to Orlando.

The Magic hit 15 3-pointers - tied for the most against Toronto in 2011-12.

"I'm disappointed in our focus and attention to detail," said coach Dwane Casey, whose team has lost five of six. "We came out flat as a pancake against one of the top teams in the league."

If the Raptors are going to bounce back, they may have to do so without DeMar DeRozan and Jerryd Bayless. DeRozan has missed the last two games with a left ankle injury, while Bayless - who scored 18 points in the Jan. 27 loss - left in the second quarter on Monday with a sore left hip. He missed the previous two contests with a left hip pointer.

Toronto could use another big effort from former Nugget Gary Forbes, who scored a career-high 21 points Monday and has averaged 17.3 points his last three games - well above his season mark of 5.6 points.

The Raptors also signed Ben Uzoh to a 10-day contract on Tuesday to add some depth to the backcourt.

Raptors center Andrea Bargnani will get his first look at the Nuggets this season after missing the loss in Denver with a left calf strain. The Italian center will try to help Toronto end a four-game home skid in this series after scoring 24 points in Denver's last visit, a 123-116 loss on Dec. 10, 2010.

Former Nugget Linas Kleiza led Toronto with 26 and 12 boards in that game - his first versus Denver. He could be matched up against Nuggets forward Al Harrington on Wednesday.

The two got into a shoving match in the final minute in Denver with the Nuggets well on their way to a 14th win in 15 games in this series.

The Raptors' last victory over the Nuggets was 121-94 at Air Canada Centre on March 23, 2007.

Bargnani has 26 points as Raptors beat Nuggets

Posted Mar 28 2012 10:56PM

TORONTO (AP) The high of beating the NBA's best team didn't last long for the Denver Nuggets. No surprise, really. That's the way things have gone for Denver over the past three weeks.

Andrea Bargnani scored 26 points, Jose Calderon had 10 points and 10 assists and the Toronto Raptors snapped a nine-game losing streak against Denver, beating the Nuggets 105-96 Wednesday night.

Hoping to strengthen their playoff credentials after dumping the league-leading Bulls 108-91 in Chicago on Monday night, Denver had another rough landing instead.

"For the past month we haven't had the proper focus after a good game," Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo said. "We've done a great job of bouncing back and recovering but usually when we win a game, we come out and lose that next one. That's a habit we can't afford at this point in the season."

Denver is 5-7 since a four-game winning streak from Feb 29 to March 5, and has not won consecutive games in that span.

"I can't remember the last time we won back-to-back games," Afflalo said. "That's not because of our ability, that's just not being focused after going out and competing and playing a good game the night before."

Ty Lawson, who was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and finished two points shy of a season-high, agreed that Denver has lacked consistent effort in recent weeks.

"You can just tell by how we play," Lawson said. "Big games, we're probably way more focused. Everyone's knees are bent, ready to go. Some games we might let up a little bit and we can't keep doing that."

With Utah losing at Boston on Wednesday night and Houston inactive, the Nuggets remained ninth in the tightly packed Western Conference playoff race.

"I've said it a thousand times, we have fought very hard to be in a good place and I still think we are in a good place," Denver coach George Karl said. "The schedule is difficult but it isn't impossible. There's going to be a lot of maneuvering."

Toronto's two former Nuggets had big games. Gary Forbes had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double and Linas Kleiza scored 15 points. DeMar DeRozan added 17 points as the Raptors beat Denver for the first time since March 23, 2007.

Lawson had 26 points and nine assists, Afflalo scored 13 and Wilson Chandler had 13 for the Nuggets, who came in 13-1 against Eastern Conference opponents this season. Denver's only other loss to an Eastern team was a 100-99 home loss to Cleveland on March 7.

Al Harrington scored 10 points and Kenneth Faried had 10 for the Nuggets, who took a six-point lead in the final quarter but couldn't hold on, largely because of a poor shooting performance. Denver made just three of 20 attempts in the fourth.

"We just didn't knock down shots and they were hitting everything," Lawson said.

Andre Miller's layup gave Denver a 94-88 lead with 8:28 remaining, but Ben Uzoh made a driving layup, Forbes hit a 3 and Bargnani made a fadeaway jumper to give the Raptors a 95-94 lead with 5:30 left, forcing Denver to call timeout.

After a missed jumper by Chandler, Bargnani hit a 3 with the shot clock winding down, putting Toronto up 98-94 with 4:50 left.

Afflalo and Bargnani each made a pair of free throws before Bargnani hit a 3 from the top, extending Toronto's lead to 103-96 with 2:35 to go.

Bargnani made seven of 14 from the field and 10 of 12 from the line, his best game since missing 26 of 28 contests with a strained left calf.

"He had a pep in his step," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "He had the same pep that he had prior to the injury. I wanted to go to him as much as possible and make sure we took advantage of it."

Toronto, which had lost five of six, snapped a two-game losing streak.

Bargnani scored 10 points in the opening quarter as the Raptors scored the first seven points of the game and led 27-22 after one.

The Italian added six more in the second, passing 6,000 career points in the process, and Kleiza hit a buzzer-beating 3 as Toronto overcame 10 points from Lawson to take a 55-53 lead at the half.

The Raptors were unable to hold their advantage through the third. Chandler's layup tied it at 63-63 with 8:44 left in the quarter, sparking a 12-4 run by Denver over the next three minutes that was capped by huge dunks from Faried and JaVale McGee.

Lawson scored 16 points in the third but DeRozan had 11 to keep the Raptors in it, and the teams went to the fourth tied at 85.

NOTES: Calderon had 10 or more assists for the fourth straight game. ... DeRozan returned after missing the previous two games with a sore left ankle. ... Kleiza started for Toronto because James Johnson was sidelined with an upper respiratory infection. ... Raptors G Jerryd Bayless is expected to miss the remainder of the season after an MRI Tuesday revealed a partial tear in his left side. ... Uzoh made his Raptors debut one day after being signed to a 10-day contract. ... Casey's first NBA job was as an assistant to current Nuggets coach George Karl with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Notebook Raptors 105, Nuggets 96

Posted Wednesday March 28, 2012 10:57PM

By Duane Watson, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (17-34) defeated the Denver Nuggets (27-24) 105-96 on Wednesday night, halting a two-game losing streak. Andrea Bargnani tied for a game-high 26 points and surpassed the 6,000-point mark for his career, placing him fourth all-time on the Raptors scoring list.

The Raptors were unable to contain Ty Lawson for the first three quarters and were tied 85-85 going into the fourth quarter. Not only did the Raptors shut him down in the final frame, they shut down the entire Nuggets team holding them scoreless from the field for the last 8:26 of the game and closing on a 17-2 run.

DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, while Jose Calderon added 10 points and 10 assists. Ex-Nuggets Linas Kleiza and Gary Forbes exacted some revenge on their former team, Kleiza scored 15 points, while Forbes had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The Nuggets were led by Lawson's 26 points and nine assists, all in the first three quarters and Aaron Afflalo's 15 points.

The win splits the Raptors second game of a five-game home stand (1-1) and halts Denver's 9 game winning streak over the Raptors.

QUOTABLE: "With the new group in there you can call it what you want to call it. We were confused, they were confused, but again, when you work hard with anything, even when you make a mistake it turns out well."
-- Raptors head coach Dwane Casey on the fourth-quarter defense.

THE STAT: The Nuggets couldn't put the ball in the net and shot .150 going 3-for-20 from the field and 0-for-5 from the three point line in the fourth quarter.

TURNING POINT: Bargnani's 3-pointer at 4:48 put the Raptors up 98-94 sparking a 10-2 run to close out the game. The Nuggets would go the rest of the game and continue to miss their next 10 attempts from the field.

QUOTABLE II: "It was fun because you know in this stretch, I missed so many wide open threes and then I hit the two hardest maybe. It was a very good fourth quarter."
-- Raptors forward Andrea Bargnani

HOT: Lawson kept the Nuggets in the game after closing the first quarter down 27-22 to the Raptors. The Nuggets guard scored 10 points, added 4 assists and 2 steals in the second quarter to help them close the gap to 55-53. He finished the half with 10 points, 8 assists and 2 steals on 5-for-8 shooting. He the poured in another 16 points in the third quarter to tie the game 85-85.

GOOD MOVE: After being torched by Lawson's quickness through the first three quarters, Raptors coach Casey finally made the adjustment. For the fourth quarter, he had his team in a match-up zone defense that stifled the Nuggets causing them to miss their last 15 field goal attempts and holding them to 11 points in the quarter.

BAD MOVE: Calderon had difficulty keeping up with Lawson's quickness for the first three quarters. Casey didn't make a match up change or switch to zone defense in order to counter his explosiveness and Lawson got off to 26 points after three frames.

NOTABLE: The Nuggets have dropped three of their last four games and continue on their seen game road swing. ... The Raptors are 7-5 this season when scoring 100+ points. ... The Nuggets tied an opponent season low for points in a quarter with 11... Calderon recorded his team leading 10th double-double with 11 points and 10 assists... Raptors were without James Johnson tonight due to an upper respiratory infection and Jerryd Bayless who is done for the season with a torn left oblique muscle... Both D-League call-ups Alan Anderson and Ben Uzoh suited up for the Raptors tonight and got minutes in their second and first games respectively.

UP NEXT: The Raptors continue their homestand Friday vs, Miami, Sunday vs. Washington and Tuesday vs. Charlotte. Denver continues their road swing on Friday @ Charlotte, Sunday @ Orlando and Wednesday.

• Nuggets: Fernandez, Gallinari
• Raptors: Bayless

• Nuggets: Afflalo
• Raptors: Casey, DeRozan

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #31 Scott Wall, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 15867
• Duration: 2:17