’Melo leads Nuggets to win in Atlanta

Boykins registered 12 of his points during a 29-4 run that spanned the final two quarters, as the Nuggets turned an eight-point deficit into a 17-point lead.

J.R. Smith added 17 points for the Nuggets, who won for the second time in three outings.

Josh Smith had 21 points and 10 boards and Tyronn Lue tallied 16 points for the Hawks, who have dropped three straight.

The Hawks led 67-59 with 3:25 left after a Marvin Williams bucket, but Denver turned it on from there, scoring 29 of the next 33 points.

Boykins’ bucket during the final seconds of the third gave the Nuggets a 71-70 edge, a lead they never relinquished. Later, Smith’s layup with 8:10 left in the contest ended the surge, giving Denver an 88-71 cushion.

"I thought we went from a non-defensive team to a very good defensive team," said Denver head coach George Karl of his team’s play during the decisive run. "From the end of the third to the fourth we were really pressuring the ball and trapping the ball, some turnovers came our way and the offense was easy."

Atlanta never threatened again, falling for the fourth time in six meetings against the Nuggets.

"Their toughness just took over the game," said Lue. "They hit us early in the fourth quarter, we were back on our heals reacting instead of delivering the first blow."

Salim Stoudamire had 13 points for Atlanta, which led 29-22 after one quarter and carried a 54-43 advantage into the break.

Denver improved to 1-1 on its current five-game road trip.

Game Notes

Atlanta hit just 3-of-13 three-pointers, compared to 7-of-18 from the Nuggets...Denver also hit on 37-of-75 shots while the Hawks hit only 35- of-86...The Hawks fell to 4-5 at home...Denver improved to 6-3 on the road...These two teams have split a pair of meetings this year.