Thomas’ last-second tip-in lifts Bulls over Nuggets

Trailing by one, Chicago caught a break on its final possession. Ben Gordon got trapped in the corner and then recovered a loose ball to get off a jumper, in which Thomas tipped for the game-winner with .2 seconds showing on the clock.

Denver is now one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who edged Memphis 121-119 earlier in the evening, for the sixth spot in the Western Conference playoff race; while the Bulls are No. 5 in the East.

Gordon scored 25 points for Chicago, which has won five of its last seven and wrapped up a short two-game homestand. Luol Deng posted 22 points and a season-high tying 14 rebounds, while Kirk Hinrich notched 21 points and eight assists for the Bulls, who are 26-9 at home this season and scheduled to visit the Indiana Pacers on Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Allen Iverson scored 31 points and Carmelo Anthony 28 for the Nuggets, who played the second of a five-game road trip and are a respectable 15-15 on the road this season. Nene posted 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, who will also visit Toronto, Cleveland and Detroit on the current swing.

Trailing 99-92 just past the midway point of the fourth, Chicago went on a 9-2 run sparked by a P.J. Brown jumper to tie things at 101 with 3:20 to go.

About a minute later, Linas Kleiza drilled a three, but Deng scored on a layup, as the teams traded one-point leads heading toward the final minute.

Nene then converted a pair of free throws with 32.4 seconds left, but Gordon swished a jumper at 23.6 to reclaim the one-point lead for Chicago, 107-106.

Iverson kept the ball on the ensuing possession and scooted down the right lane for a layup with 13.1 seconds on the clock, as the one-point margin swung back to Denver for the last time.

Trailing by one, 26-25, heading into the final first-quarter minute, Denver went on a 9-2 burst capped by Kleiza’s trey at the buzzer for a 34-28 lead heading into the second.

After Eduardo Najera’s tip shot 45 seconds into the second quarter, Chicago rattled off 10 straight points highlighted by a pair of buckets and pair of free throws by Deng. The Bulls maintained a slight edge down the stretch to lead 55-51 at halftime.

With the score knotted at 77 at the two-minute mark of the third, the Nuggets went on a 7-3 spurt snapped by a Gordon jumper with six ticks remaining for an 84-82 lead heading into the fourth.

Game Notes

This was the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. On November 21st, J.R. Smith scored 36 points to lead the Nuggets to a 113-109 win over the Bulls at the Pepsi Center...Denver has split its last four at Chicago...The Nuggets failed to sweep the season-series for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign.