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Sunday, Dec. 5 7:00pm ET
Van Exel's 20 points leads Nuggets | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Their first road victory of the season -- and just their fifth in the past three seasons -- left the Denver Nuggets thinking they may be good enough to make the postseason. "This is not the same Nuggets team you have seen over the last couple of years. This is a real good basketball team," coach Dan Issel said after his team surprised the New York Knicks 80-78 Sunday night. "I believe we are going to get the last playoff spot in the West.
Nick Van Exel scored 20 points, including 14 in the third quarter to almost singlehandedly keep his team in the game, and Antonio McDyess added 16 on a night when the Nuggets were without their leading scorer, Ron Mercer. Bryant Stith had a key block of Latrell Sprewell's jumper with 6 seconds left, and the Nuggets benefited from a lack of clutch plays by Allan Houston in the final 12 seconds. "Everybody stepped up," Van Exel said. "We just kept fighting and fighting and our defense carried us." It was a somewhat shocking victory for the Nuggets, given their woes on the road this season (0-5 coming in) and in recent years (2-23 last season, 2-39 in 1997-98.) Denver trailed by as many as 16 but nonetheless posted its fourth double-digit comeback of the season. "Wins like this will help our confidence down the stretch. We will remember this one for a while," Issel said. Houston committed a key loose ball foul with 12 seconds left, then missed a foul shot that would have tied the game and a 22-footer at the buzzer. "It will definitely be hard to sleep tonight," Houston said. For all that Van Exel and McDyess did, the biggest plays down the stretch came from Stith, George McCloud and Raef LaFrentz. LaFrentz, left alone as the Knicks double-teamed McDyess, hit a straightaway 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to put Denver ahead 77-76, giving the Nuggets just their third lead of the night. Houston answered with a 20-footer with 29 seconds left to put New York back up by one. Van Exel missed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left, but Houston was called for a foul going for the rebound and McCloud hit both free throws to put Denver up 79-78 with 12 seconds left. After a timeout, the Nuggets committed a foul before the Knicks could inbound, resulting in a one-shot foul. Houston missed it, though, and Sprewell was then cleanly rejected by Stith from about 10 feet away as he pulled up for a jumper. Keon Clark made one of two free throws with 4.9 seconds left for the final margin. Houston led the Knicks with 15 points, Sprewell had 14 and Kurt Thomas added 13 points and 13 rebounds. New York was outscored 26-16 in the fourth quarter. "We showed fatigue again," coach Jeff Van Gundy said, "and we shouldn't be a team that doesn't have high energy because we're basically playing all young guys." McDyess converted a layup off a pick-and-roll play with Van Exel with 5:05 left to give the Nuggets a 69-68 lead, marking the first time Denver was ahead since early in the first quarter. The lead lasted just 14 seconds, however, before Houston hit a jumper. After McCloud turned the ball over, Chris Childs hit a running 10 footer for a three-point lead. The Knicks stayed ahead from there until Van Exel hit a 20-footer with 1:15 to tie the score at 74-all.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse New York Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 98 San Antonio 92
Denver 80
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