Raptors-Nuggets Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 02 2012 9:57PM

The Denver Nuggets could be hosting the perfect opponent after a winless road stretch.

The Nuggets have won eight straight at home against the Toronto Raptors heading into Monday night's matchup.

Denver (8-9) was probably feeling good about itself one week ago heading into Utah with a four-game win streak. The Nuggets then blew halftime leads in Monday's defeat to the Jazz and Thursday's loss at Golden State before being blown out 122-103 by the Lakers on Friday.

"I thought we fought up to a degree, but when they got it back up to 20, our gas tank was pretty empty," coach George Karl said after the loss in Los Angeles.

The Nuggets will no doubt be targeting this contest since they start a five-game trip Wednesday in Atlanta. They haven't lost at home to Toronto (4-13) since an 81-74 defeat Dec. 30, 2003, winning the past eight meetings by an average of 19.7 points.

The Raptors can probably relate to any sense of urgency the Nuggets may have. Toronto is starting a season-high five-game trip on the heels of Friday's 101-97 victory over Phoenix that ended a six-game slide.

The Raptors had been 1-5 in games decided by five points or fewer.

"I feel great," said point guard Jose Calderon, who had 13 points and nine assists. "We showed ourselves that we can win these types of games."

DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 23 points while Amir Johnson added 16 off the bench. Johnson had totaled 20 points during the losing streak before finishing two off his season high against the Suns.

The Raptors were in such good spirits afterward that coach Dwane Casey joked that the courtside presence of R&B singer and Toronto native Drake inspired Johnson.

"He likes Drake's music a lot so he must have been excited," Casey said. "But Amir did a great job of battling, hitting the boards, defending, just doing a lot of the little things that we need him to do."

Andrea Bargnani returned after sitting out Wednesday's loss at Memphis because of a sore left ankle. Bargnani only managed four points and took four shots.

His Italian countryman, Danilo Gallinari of the Nuggets, has struggled to average 11.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting in five home games.

Toronto is not a major threat from beyond the arc at 35.4 percent, and that's good news for Denver. The Nuggets are the third-worst team defensively against 3-point shooters at 39.5 percent after finishing at a league-worst 38.3 percent in 2011-12.

The Lakers' 17 3-pointers Friday were a season high allowed by Denver.

"We were last in the league last year as far as giving up 3-pointers," guard Andre Miller said. "This is our third or fourth game this year where we've given up 10 or more 3s. We preach keeping the ball out of the paint; we're trying to force teams to take tough contested jump shots."

A matchup to watch will occur on the glass when Denver has possession. The Nuggets lead the NBA with 15.0 offensive rebounds per game while the Raptors are limiting foes to an average of 9.8 offensive boards for the league's second-best mark.

The Nuggets have taken 14 of the last 16 overall from the Raptors.

Brewer leads Nuggets past Raptors 113-110

Posted Dec 04 2012 12:59AM

DENVER (AP) The Denver Nuggets were running, dunking and cruising to a laugher of a win midway through the fourth quarter.

Six minutes later they walked off the court more relieved than happy after withstanding a desperate rally by Toronto.

Corey Brewer scored 19 points, JaVale McGee had 17 points and five blocks, and the Nuggets held on to beat the Raptors 113-110 Monday night.

Andrea Bargnani scored 23 points for Toronto and Kyle Lowry had 24, including 12 in the fourth quarter when the Raptors cut a 17-point lead to one with 2:18 left.

"We dug ourselves too big of a hole," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "They are a good offensive team, they're a very explosive offensive team. We decided to play defense the last few minutes of the game, and it's too late."

It was the third time in the last four games that the Nuggets let a double-digit lead disappear late. This time they were able to hold on after losing at Utah and Golden State last week.

"I think it's a great win. It's what we needed. We needed a win," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We've got to get better at finishing the game."

The Nuggets led 103-86 on a dunk by Kenneth Faried midway through the fourth before Toronto came storming back. The Raptors scored 11 straight points before Danilo Gallinari hit two free throws.

A 3-pointer by rookie Terrence Ross and two free throws by Lowry made it 105-104.

"Lowry started getting more aggressive going to the basket, getting fouls and finding open shooters," Nuggets guard Ty Lawson said. "We've got to be smarter and more focused on putting our foot on them when we're up 15 points."

Lawson, who finished with 16 points, hit a 3-pointer and Toronto missed its next three shots as Denver built a 110-104 cushion.

Lowry hit another 3 with 14 seconds left, and after two free throws from Andre Iguodala, Amir Johnson hit a 3 with 7.9 seconds remaining to make it 112-110.

"We stopped making shots, they started making shots," Brewer said. "NBA teams are going to make runs and they made their run late."

Faried hit one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds left and DeMar DeRozan missed a long 3 at the buzzer.

Faried had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Six players scored in double figures for Denver, which held a 23-9 edge in offensive rebounding.

"We made a commitment in the second half to play defense the whole time," Lowry said. "I don't think in the second half that they had too many fast-break points. We have to play like we did in the second half in the first 24."

The Nuggets looked as though they would sail to their first win in four games. They led 61-44 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter.

Denver trailed 22-19 when it took control late in the first quarter. Brewer came off the bench and had two quick dunks and a layup to spark a 10-2 run to finish the period.

Brewer continued his tear in the second quarter. He scored nine points in 2:30 and McGee had an alley-oop dunk among his 11 first-half points to help Denver take a 38-26 lead before Toronto called a timeout.

Denver didn't let up. Jordan Hamilton scored six straight points to push the lead to 53-34 with 4:15 left in the first half. The Nuggets continued to turn missed shots and turnovers into easy baskets, outscoring Toronto 13-0 on the fast break in the first half.

"They were the aggressors. They really turned the game at that time," Casey said. "Altitude, real or perceived, really messed with guys."

NOTES: McGee had a career-high 16 free throw attempts. He made nine. ... Raptors F Linas Kleiza (sore left hip) did not play. He had an MRI on Monday afternoon but the results were not available yet. ... Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler, who has missed the last 10 games while trying to recover from offseason surgery on his left hip, will not join the team on its upcoming five-game road trip.

Notebook: Nuggets 113, Raptors 110

Michael Kelly, For NBA.com
Posted Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:33 AM - Updated Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:33 AM

THE FACTS: Corey Brewer had 19 points off the bench, JaVale McGee had 17 points and five blocked shots and the Denver Nuggets survived a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat the Toronto Raptors 113-110 on Monday night.

Kenneth Faried had 18 points and 10 rebounds and hit a key free throw with 5.8 seconds left to help Denver (9-9) end a three-game losing streak.

Kyle Lowry led Toronto (4-14) with 24 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, and Andrea Bargnani had 23 points for the Raptors. Toronto has lost seven of its last eight and has not won consecutive games yet this season.

QUOTABLE: "We stopped making shots, they started making shots. NBA teams are going to make runs and they made their run late."

-- Corey Brewer, on the Raptors' rally

THE STAT: The Nuggets won nearly every statistical category, outrebounding the Raptors 53-37, including a 23-9 edge on the offensive end. Denver also won the transition game, outscoring Toronto 19-2 on the fastbreak.

TURNING POINT: The Nuggets led 103-86 with 6:07 left when the Raptors rallied. Lowry came alive to score points to pull the Raptors within 105-104 with 3:41 left. But Ty Lawson hit a clutch 3-pointer and the Nuggets hit enough free throws to survive a couple of 3s by Toronto.

QUOTABLE II: "Andre Iguodala attacked and I moved to the open spot. I found myself wide open and knocked it down."

-- Ty Lawson, on his late 3-pointer

HOT: Brewer's performance in the first half. He scored on dunks and 3-pointers, and also chipped in with four rebounds and two steals. He and McGee changed the momentum in the game in just a few minutes.

HOT II: Lowry's performance in the final quarter nearly won the game for the Raptors. He had 12 points and two assists during the last eight minutes and his aggressiveness had the Nuggets scrambling. He also finished 11-for-11 from the line.

NOT: Toronto's interior play. Not only did the Nuggets seem to dunk at will, they badly outrebounded the Raptors. They also outscored them 58-42 in the paint.

QUOTABLE III: "There's no way we can give up 23 offensive rebounds and expect to beat anybody in the NBA."

-- Raptors coach Dwane Casey

NOT II: The Nuggets foul shooting again was suspect. They were 27-for-43, which means they could have sealed the game by hitting more of their free throws.

QUOTABLE IV: "I'm going to fire my free throw coach and my layup coach. The easy shots we've missed are amazing. We missed dunks."

-- Nuggets coach George Karl

GOOD MOVE: Karl's confidence in Jordan Hamilton's ability to make a difference paid off in the first half. Hamilton was 4-for-5 from the field, scored six straight points in one stretch and also had four rebounds. With Denver looking for a shooter to stretch defenses, Hamilton's contribution will be key.

BAD MOVE: The Nuggets' aggressiveness went away in the final few minutes. The Raptors did hit some big shots, a few well behind the 3-point line, but had Denver pushed the pace they wouldn't have needed a late stand to win.

ROOKIE WATCH: Raptors guard Terrence Ross had 12 points, including a big 3-pointer late that helped Toronto rally.

NOTABLE: The Nuggets held a 19-2 advantage in fast-break points. ... McGee set a career high in free-throw attempts with 16. He made nine. ... Raptors forward Linas Kleiza missed the game with a sore left hip. ... Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler missed his 10th straight and 15th overall. He is still recovering from offseason surgery on his left hip and will not accompany the team on its upcoming five-game road trip.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors, Wednesday @ Sacramento, Friday @ Utah, Sunday @ L.A. Clippers. For the Nuggets, Wednesday @ Atlanta, Friday @ Indiana, Sunday at New York.

• Raptors: Anderson, Fields
• Nuggets: Chandler, Stone

• Raptors: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #50 Olandis Poole, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 15221
• Duration: 2:16