Magic-Nuggets Preview

Posted Jan 08 2013 2:52PM

Arron Afflalo is returning to Denver mired in the longest losing streak of his career.

His Orlando Magic have dropped nine straight as they try for a rare road win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Afflalo was Denver's second-leading scorer last season with 15.2 points per game before he was dealt to Orlando (12-22) over the summer as part of the Dwight Howard multi-team deal.

He already faced his former team in his Magic debut - a 102-89 home win Nov. 2. It wasn't a smooth effort for the Orlando backcourt as Afflalo and Jameer Nelson combined for 16 points on 5-of-22 shooting.

The Magic got 29 points and 10 boards from Glen Davis in the opener. Davis, though, is out with a dislocated shoulder, and he's missed every game of this slide - Orlando's longest since a 13-game skid March 13-April 10, 2004.

Afflalo never endured a losing streak of this length with the Nuggets (20-16). He's played fairly well over the last nine games, averaging 22.2 points on 49.7 percent shooting.

The Magic have dropped eight of their last nine visits to Denver.

Orlando has lost five times by four or fewer points in this slide, and that does not include Monday's 125-119 overtime defeat at Portland in the opener of a four-game trip.

"The games we're losing, we're in all of them," Nelson said. "They're close games and hard fought but we just keep coming up short."

J.J. Redick scored a season-high 29 points and Nelson added 21 and 12 assists. Nelson's 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime.

"Our effort was unbelievable," coach Jacque Vaughn said. "We didn't get the win but at the end of the day we put in the work. Tough loss, but our guys did some amazing things tonight. They deserved to win that game."

Nikola Vucevic posted his fourth straight double-double with 17 points and 13 boards before fouling out. He's averaging 17.0 points and 18.0 rebounds in that span.

The second-year 7-footer has become a much better player since he got into foul trouble with four in 16 minutes in the opener against the Nuggets. He's part of a frontcourt that includes rookies Andrew Nicholson and DeQuan Jones with Davis out.

That inexperienced unit could find things difficult against a Denver team that likes to do its damage inside, scoring 55.5 points per game in the paint.

"We lead the league in points scored in the paint," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "That's our philosophy."

The Nuggets seek a third straight victory after beating the Lakers 112-105 on the road Sunday. Ty Lawson had 21 points and 10 assists and Danilo Gallinari scored 20.

"(When) we're all knocking down shots, playing our game and playing with confidence, we're hard to beat," Lawson said. "That gets everybody else going."

Lawson is averaging 15.0 points and 6.8 assists in five career matchups against Nelson, who is averaging 10.6 points and 4.2 assists in those games although he didn't even last two minutes in one of them due to a calf injury.

Faried helps Nuggets rally past Magic 108-105

By PAT GRAHAM
Posted Jan 10 2013 12:55AM

DENVER (AP) By sprawling on the ground after a loose ball, Kenneth Faried helped the Denver Nuggets steal a win.

Then again, his teammates expect nothing less from the high-energy forward.

Granted, Faried had an incredible night, scoring 19 points and grabbing 19 rebounds to lead the Nuggets to a 108-105 win over the slumping Orlando Magic on Wednesday. But that hustle play may have been the biggest contribution by the player nicknamed "Manimal."

Without it, well, who knows how this one would've turned out?

Trailing by nine early in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets roared back and tied the game at 99 on an alley-oop dunk by Faried. But he was just getting warmed up.

When Andre Iguodala missed a free throw on the next possession, Faried lunged for the ball on the floor and scooped it up, quickly calling time out.

Out of the break, Ty Lawson converted a three-point play with 1:27 remaining that gave the Nuggets the lead for good and sent them to their third straight win.

After the game, Danilo Gallinari made sure Faried's effort wasn't forgotten.

"Gallo came up to me and said, `Thank you,"' Faried said. "Those are the plays that do go sometimes unnoticed. Tonight, it didn't."

No, it didn't at that.

This game had shades of Minnesota written all over it, too.

A week ago, the Nuggets were coming off an emotional victory as they snapped the Los Angeles Clippers' 17-game win streak. But they stumbled at home to a depleted Timberwolves squad.

Three days ago, Denver beat the Lakers in Los Angeles. Only, the Nuggets were on the ropes against the reeling Magic.

Faried turned to Lawson on the bench and simply said, "This can't happen.

"We can't have this letdown," Faried recounted. "Not tonight. We were all locked in and had to do what we had to do. We were able to escape with a win."

This was just like Nuggets coach George Karl expected - the Magic taking his team to the wire.

These days, Orlando just can't catch a break since Glen Davis went out with a sprained left shoulder. It was the Magic's 10th straight loss in the big man's absence.

"They're not as bad as their record," Karl said. "They've had a lot of games similar to tonight, where in the fourth quarter they were close to winning the game and the momentum somehow slapped them and they lost the game.

"I'm disappointed a little bit with the energy early in the game."

And the Magic feel the same way about what happened late.

"It's tough to lose games, no matter how many you lose in a row, even if it's just one," said Jameer Nelson, who led the team with 20 points. "Things could have went differently out there. We just have to stick together."

Before walking out of the arena and to the team bus, Arron Afflalo stopped by the Nuggets locker room to chat with his former teammates.

"They played well down the stretch I guess and did what they needed to do to win," said Afflalo, who finished with 12 points before fouling out.

The Magic had 27 fouls called against them, while the Nuggets only had seven. Not that anyone wanted to really address that.

"I'm not going to comment on the fouls. I'm not going to comment on the refs," Nelson said. "Both teams played hard."

Afflalo returned to Pepsi Center to applause - at least for introductions. Soon after that he was treated like any other opposing player and constantly heckled. When Afflalo made his first basket, someone screamed, "Who?!"

Afflalo was once a fan favorite, too, especially after signing a long-term contract. But the Nuggets saw an opportunity to upgrade the squad in the offseason and dealt Afflalo, along with Al Harrington, to Orlando as part of the blockbuster deal that landed Dwight Howard with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In exchange, Denver wound up with Iguodala, who hit a big 3-pointer late when the Magic were threatening to pull away. The Nuggets also tried to pick up big man Nikola Vucevic in the deal, but team executive Masai Ujiri couldn't get him included in the trade.

Vucevic showed Nuggets fans why he was so coveted, scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Magic. He also missed a dunk late in the game before fouling out.

Seeing Afflalo leave town was difficult for Karl, who constantly relied on the guard's easygoing demeanor during Afflalo's three seasons in Denver.

Said Karl before the game: "Someone taught (Afflalo) at a very early age that winning is why you play. It's very deep in his basketball soul. You play the game to win. It's not numbers. It's not stats. It's to win."

Asked before the game if he was sweating the losing streak, coach Jacque Vaughn turned into a philosopher.

"To be able to fight adversity and see how you respond is a true test of a man's character, which ultimately is his destiny," Vaughn said. "That is who you are. Life is what you make of it. That is your own destiny. It's a great opportunity to forge your own destiny."

NOTES: Magic G J.J. Redick had 17 points. ... Lawson finished with 19 points while reserve Corey Brewer gave the Nuggets an early spark, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second quarter when the team was struggling. .

Notebook: Nuggets 108, Magic 105

Michael Kelly, For NBA.com
Posted Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:28 AM - Updated Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:28 AM

THE FACTS: Kenneth Faried had 19 points and 19 rebounds, Ty Lawson scored 19 points and had a tie-breaking three-point play late in the fourth quarter as the Denver Nuggets handed the Orlando Magic their 10th straight loss, 108-105 on Wednesday.

Jameer Nelson had 20 points and eight assists, and J.J. Redick added 17 points off the bench for Orlando, which has lost nine games by fewer than 10 points during this streak.

The Nuggets (21-16) trailed by seven late in the fourth before going on a 15-5 run to take control. Andre Iguodala had seven of his 11 points in the final period to help Denver avoid another home loss.

QUOTABLE: "I was talking to Ty [Lawson] on the sideline, about how we just beat L.A. [Lakers] and we can't have this letdown. Not tonight."

-- Kenneth Faried, on not getting another home game stolen from the Nuggets

THE STAT: The Magic (12-23) were called for 27 fouls and the Nuggets just seven. Denver committed just one foul in the first 21:27 of the second half. The Nuggets shot 36 free throws to Orlando's 10.

TURNING POINT: With the game tied, Iguodala missed two free throws but Faried came up big. He rebounded the second miss, didn't convert the putback but got his own miss and called a timeout before he was tied up. The Nuggets drew up a play for Lawson, and he drove through the lane, hit a layup and was fouled. He drained the free throw to put Denver up 102-99 with 1:27 left and they never trailed again.

QUOTABLE II: "I was a little disappointed at halftime we didn't foul. We didn't foul in the second half, either. Seven is kind of insulting and embarrassing to me because our team should be more aggressive than that. They should shoot twice that many free throws just to see what you can get away with.

-- Nuggets coach George Karl

QUOTABLE III: "There's got to be a way I can steal some of those secrets and get my guys to not hand-check like his guys and to get his guys to play in a way that [brings] seven foul calls. It'll be interesting to watch it on film. The film never lies. Looking forward to seeing the seven fouls."

-- Magic coach Jacque Vaughn

HOT: Redick heated up in the third quarter when the Magic built a nine-point lead. He hit two 3-pointers and an 18-footer to give Orlando a 75-66 lead with 2:08 left in the third.

NOT: Arron Afflalo did not have a good homecoming against his former team. Orlando's leading scorer finished with 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Nikola Vucevic continued his rebounding tear with 14 more Wednesday. Since the start of December, the Orlando center has double-digit rebounds in 15 of 20 games, and in three games he didn't get that many he had nine. He is averaging 17.2 rebounds in his last five games.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Afflalo was given a warm greeting by the Pepsi Center crowd when he was introduced before the game. Afflalo played four years in Denver before being traded to Orlando in August.

QUOTABLE IV: "There's a lot of things. All you can do is correct it. Honestly, I'm tired of talking about it. It's 10 games in a row now, same [stuff] -- I don't know what else to say expect we need to play better and win."

-- Aaron Afflalo on the losing streak

GOOD MOVE: Karl put Iguodala on Afflalo for most of the game. Although Iguodala didn't have a big offensive night, his defense was a difference in the game.

ROOKIE WATCH: Orlando was able to build a lead thanks to its trio of rookies. DeQuan Jones had 11 points, Andrew Nicholson had 12 and Maurice Harkless scored nine off the bench.

NOTABLE: This is the first time in his career Faried has registered 19 points and 19 rebounds. ... The Magic have lost four games by three points or less during their streak. ... Andre Miller finished with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting. At one point he made eight straight field goals.

UP NEXT: For the Magic, Saturday @ L.A. Clippers, Monday @ Washington, Wednesday vs. Indiana. For the Nuggets, Saturday vs. Cleveland, Sunday vs. Golden State, Tuesday vs. Portland.

• Magic: Davis, Harrington
• Nuggets: Chandler, Miller

• Magic: Nelson
• Nuggets: Miller

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 13

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #33 Sean Corbin, #41 Ken Mauer, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 15084
• Duration: 2:15