The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 92-78 to end their franchise-record 17-game win streak.
Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points and chipped in with six rebounds to hand the Clippers their first defeat in five weeks. Clippers' winning run was the longest since the Boston Celtics won 19 consecutive games in 2008.
"We were all a step slower today," the Associated Press quoted Blake Griffin as saying. "We've got to be better than that.
"We're not going to sit and cry on the plane and get beat down. We're not going to cause ourselves to lose our confidence, despite what people want us to do. That's the best thing about the NBA -- you've got another game."
For the Clippers, Griffin had 12 points and nine rebounds, making just 4 out of 11 attempts from the floor. It was the first time in 18 games that Griffin has shot less than 50 percent.
The Nuggets have gained much confidence and the team is motivated after beating one of the strongest sides in NBA this season.
"The Clippers have been playing with that the last 18 games. That builds into them winning," Andre Igoudala said. "They have the mentality every night they're going to go out there and win.
"We've got to build the same thing and try to string along the same type of win streak."
Kenneth Faried added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their eighth straight game at home. Andre Miller and Iguodala finished with 12 points apiece, while JaVale McGee had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Denver outscored the Clippers in the first quarter 21-19. They again outscored Los Angeles 27-24 in the second to extend their lead by five points at halftime.
For the Clippers, Eric Bledsoe added 12 points, DeAndre Jordan scored 11, while Chris Paul had 10.
"Maybe two or three of the 3's that we missed, they had a hand in our face," Paul said. "But we got all the shots that we wanted. There are going to be nights like that. It just hasn't happened for a while."
McGee shot a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Denver outshined the Clippers in the third quarter to extend their lead to 16 points. Griffin hit a free throw to cut the Clippers' lead to 87-73 with 4:02 left in the final session.
The Clippers managed to outscore the Nuggets in the fourth quarter but lost the game by 14 points.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
