Lawson-led Denver tags loss on Chicago
NUGGETS 114, BULLS 109 Nuggets never trail against ailing Bullswhile improving to .500
Duck, duck, goose. Before the Nuggets tipped off against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, Denver guard Nate Robinson chased teammate AlonzoGee in a circle around their teammates in a pregame huddle. The gamewasn’t ready to start until the goose caught up to the duck.
Robinson is a quick one. And Gee’s too tall to turn the loop. Duck, duck, goose. Tag. Game on.
The Nuggets, too, have been chasing themselves for three weeks. An ugly 1-6 start sent them reeling. Jobswere suddenly on the line — foremost for their coach, Brian Shaw, who admitted he might not see the New Year in Denver if the skid continued.
Since then, theNuggets found a direction. For the most part, they’re no longer running in circles. And against the visiting Bulls, the Nuggets finally caught themselves.
A114-109 victory over a hobbled Chicago team — behind Ty Lawson’s 20 points and Arron Afflalo’s 19 — got the Nuggets (7-7) even for the season, for the first time since they were 1-1.
“We’re not above water,” Shaw said. “We’re right there. It just means that the horrendous start we had, we kind of wiped that clean.”
The Nuggets never trailed the Bulls. Gee’s two-handed dunk over Pau Gasol with 8:25 remaining gave Denver a 14-point lead. They later led by 16.
Afflalo’s long jumper with 40.3 seconds left and Lawson’s jabstep twowith 8.3 seconds remaining served as the Nuggets’ gamesealing tag-outs.
“It feels good to get back in the mix, to be playing for something,” Lawson said. “We had a late start. But we’re back to even.”
The Bulls (9-6) were bitten from the beginning. Chicago was without Joakim Noah (eye bruise, knee injection) and Taj Gibson (left ankle).
And star Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, easing back after several injuries, played just 10 minutes — he was on the court less than