Nuggets 112, Raptors 98
TORONTO -- Guard Nate Robinson hit two 3-pointers in the final two minutes and scored 23 points coming off the bench as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Toronto Raptors 112-98 Sunday for their sixth win in a row.
Forward Kenneth Faried had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season for the Nuggets (10-6) and center Timofey Mozgov also had a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
Guard Ty Lawson added 16 points for Denver while forward Darrell Arthur had 14 points and forward Jordan Hamilton chipped in with 10.
Forward Rudy Gay scored 23 points to lead the Raptors (6-10), who lost their third game in a row. Guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan scored 17 each. Center Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season while guard Terrence Ross added 10 points.
Robinson hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets stretched their four-point lead after three quarters to eight points. When Ross hit a 3-pointer with 5:54 to play the lead was reduced to five points.
Faried was shaken up after making an alley-oop dunk to put Denver ahead by seven with 5:12 left. He left the game. Mozgov's dunk with 3:49 to play had Denver leading 100-92. Lowry's floating jumper with 2:38 left brought the Raptors back to within five points. But Robinson answered with two 3-pointers to give Denver an 11-point lead with 1:39 to play.
The Nuggets, who trailed by 15 early in the game, took a two-point lead into the second half. The Raptors took a four-point lead before the Nuggets finished the third quarter with a 76-72 lead on a pull-up jumper by Lawson and a layup by Arthur.
Lawson's driving layup with 44.9 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Nuggets a 47-45 halftime lead. DeRozan led all first-half scorers with 12 points, 11 in the first quarter, while guard Andre Miller came off the bench to lead Denver with seven first-half points.
With forward Tyler Hansbrough in a starting role and forward Amir Johnson coming off the bench as the sixth man, the Raptors had a quick start. They led by as many as 15 points in taking a 31-25 lead out of the first quarter.
Notes: Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri spent three seasons as executive vice president of basketball operations for the Nuggets before returning to Toronto on May 31, 2013. He was named the 2012-13 NBA executive of the year after Denver had a team-record 57 wins while going a league-best 38-8 at home. ... F Danilo Gallinari (left knee ACL tear) and F Javale McGee (left tibia stress fracture) were out for the Nuggets while F Kenneth Faried (right quadriceps contusion) was listed was as a game-time decision and started. ... The Raptors open a three-game Western Conference swing on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. ... The Nuggets play the second game of their six-game trip against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday at Barclays Center.
