Atkins, Grizzlies stun Nuggets

Denver is the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoff race and will play Phoenix or San Antonio in the opening round of the postseason.

Tarence Kinsey also netted a career-high 28 points for Memphis, which snapped a six-game losing streak. Hakim Warrick notched 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 15 points and 10 boards. Dahntay Jones also scored 15, and Stromile Swift added 12 points off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points for the Nuggets, who had their season-high eight-game winning streak ended. Nene posted 22 points and 10 boards, while J.R. Smith scored 19. Allen Iverson scored 16 points and Marcus Camby added 14 points and 11 boards.

With the score deadlocked at 95, Memphis put the game away early in the fourth with a 14-2 burst, highlighted by eight points by Atkins for a 109-101 advantage; and sealed it by going on a 9-2 spurt down the stretch. Swift’s two free throws put the Grizzlies up 131-113 with just under a minute left, as Memphis came away with the shocker.

Denver attained an early advantage by scoring six straight midway through the first for a 14-9 lead, but Memphis netted six straight down the stretch bookended by a pair of Jones buckets for a tight 31-30 Grizzlies lead heading into the second.

After Iverson’s jumper 18 seconds into the second, the Grizzlies bolstered their lead on an 8-0 spurt finished by an Atkins trey with 9:25 remaining, and also on a 7-0 run sparked by a pair of Jones free throws about two minutes later for a 47-39 lead at the midway point. Neither team gained any ground down the stretch for a 64-56 margin at halftime.

Denver caught up on a 6-0 spurt down the third-quarter stretch, as Smith’s trey with 3:20 to go knotted the score at 86. The teams remained tied, at 95, heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

These clubs have split four games this season, but Denver has won eight of the last 11 contests in the series...The Nuggets have also won three of their last five at the Grizzlies.