Hot Nuggets deal Lakers a rare loss

The AP reports:

Nuggets deal Lakers a rare loss

Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points, Kenyon Martin scored six of his 18 in the final 3:24, and the Denver Nuggets hung on for their sixth straight win, 95-90 over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points for the Lakers, who snapped a nine-game winning streak to fall 2 1/2 games behind San Antonio in the Western Conference. The NBA-leading Spurs beat Phoenix 114-97 earlier Sunday to end a six-game slide.

Los Angeles has six games left to try and overtake the Spurs and earn homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Lakers face the Spurs for the fourth and final time this season on April 12 in their next-to-last regular-season game…

Pau Gasol had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, and reserve Lamar Odom chipped in with 17 points and seven boards. Andrew Bynum had 16 rebounds and reserve forward Matt Barnes returned from a one-game suspension with five points in 18 minutes…

Nuggets sixth man J.R. Smith picked up three fouls in less than 5 minutes after reporting into the game. He played 16 minutes and finished with only four points.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Nuggets are a more balanced team since the Melo trade. And they’re a good team to watch. I’m not sure how high their playoff potential is, but Denver is a team to watch next season.

Author: Inside Hoops

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