Nuggets 98, Cavaliers 91: Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points and Kosta Koufos added 21 as Denver rallied for its 11th win in 12 home games.
Kenneth Faried contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds, Andre Iguodala recorded 13 and 11 and Ty Lawson also scored 13 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 13-2 at home and extended their overall winning streak to four games.
Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 28 points and Dion Waiters chipped in 18 for the Cavaliers, who fell to 5-17 on the road.
Cleveland held a seven-point lead after one quarter and pushed it to 11 just over two minutes into the second. C.J. Miles buried a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to give the Cavaliers a 56-45 advantage at the break and hit a jumper with 10:35 left in the third to increase the lead to a game-high 13 points.
Denver then went on a 14-2 run to get within 62-61 with 5:43 to go and trailed by four after 36 minutes before forging a 78-78 tie on Andre Miller's layup with 9:02 left in the fourth. The score was knotted three more times before Lawson's driving layup with 1:48 remaining put the Nuggets ahead for good at 91-89.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tristan Thompson (10), Irving (eight) and Waiters (eight) combined for 26 of Cleveland's 30 first-quarter points. ... Miles returned to the lineup after missing one game with a lower back strain. ... Faried's double-double was the 29th of his career. The Nuggets are 24-5 in those contests.
Cleveland | Denver | |
Kyrie Irving 28 | Scoring | Danilo Gallinari 23 |
Kyrie Irving 7 | Assists | Ty Lawson 8 |
Tyler Zeller 8 | Rebounds | Kenneth Faried 11 |
Dion Waiters 5 | Free Throws Made | Ty Lawson 7 |
Kyrie Irving 5 | Steals | Corey Brewer 1 |
Tyler Zeller 3 | Blocks | JaVale McGee 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Cleveland | 91 | 43.5 | 5-24 | 12-16 | 12 | 35 | 4 | 14 | 15 |
Denver | 98 | 43.9 | 4-16 | 22-31 | 24 | 56 | 7 | 4 | 22 |