NBA Game Summary - Denver at San Antonio

01.22.2006

San Antonio, TX (Basketball News) - Carmelo Anthony had 20 points, including 12-of-15 from the free throw line, and eight rebounds to lead the Denver Nuggets to an 89-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.

Earl Boykins scored 19 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and Andre Miller netted 15 and dished out 10 assists for the Nuggets, who have won five straight games.

Nazr Mohammed had a season-high with both 17 points and 12 rebounds and Tim Duncan contributed 14 points and 13 boards for the Spurs, who were playing without Manu Ginobili and Robert Horry. San Antonio had a four-game winning streak snapped and lost for only the third time at home this season.

"They had a confidence this morning," said Denver coach George Karl. "They were just fed up with playing so many close games against this team and not winning it. Defensively I thought we had much better control of (Tony) Parker and Duncan than we had in the past."

The Spurs committed 17 turnovers and Denver had 13 steals to go with 32 fast break points to seal the victory. The Nuggets shot 46 percent from the field, while San Antonio connected on 42 percent of their shots, including just 4- of-23 from beyond the arc.

With Denver trailing 56-51, the Nuggets went on an 8-2 run, including four points from Earl Watson, to grab a 59-58 lead with 5:47 to play in the third stanza.

Brent Barry’s backdoor layup gave the Spurs a 66-65 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Francisco Elson’s basket with 6:44 to play capped a 14-7 Denver run, which was helped by four Spurs’ turnovers, to open the final frame and give the Nuggets a 79-73 lead. San Antonio would get as close as 79-77 on Nick Van Exel’s jumper, but could not overcome Denver’s fast-paced offense.

The Spurs led 14-9 on Mohammed’s layup, but the Nuggets closed the quarter with a 13-2 run, capped by a pair of Anthony free throws, to give Denver a 22-16 edge.

San Antonio used a 15-4 spurt to take the lead 40-36, highlighted by Mohammed’s jumper with 3:41 to play in the half. The Spurs led 48-47 after 24 minutes of play, led by Mohammed’s 11 points.

The last time the Nuggets were in first place this late in the season was the 1987-88 campaign...19 of the Nuggets’ 42 second half points came on the fast break...The Spurs’ Parker registered 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting and seven assists...Elson had 13 points and six boards...Denver has won five of its last six road games.

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