Nuggets 112, Bucks 104
DENVER -- Ty Lawson scored seven of his 22 points in the final 3:06, and the Denver Nuggets overcame a career night by Samuel Dalembert to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 112-104 on Tuesday.
Samuel Dalembert made 17 of his first 19 shots and scored a career-high 35 points for the Bucks, who have lost three of four.
Milwaukee led by as many as 17 in the first half.
Danilo Gallinari had 22 points and Corey Brewer scored 20 off the bench for Denver, which closed the game with a 19-4 run to win its seventh straight. Kenneth Faried added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bucks led by seven heading into the fourth quarter and stretched it to nine on jumper by Dalembert with 7:52 left before the Nuggets made a run. Faried had a dunk, and Gallinari hit a free throw and a 3-pointer to cut Denver's deficit to 100-97.
After another free throw from Faried sliced the margin to two, Brewer had a steal and dunk to tie the game at 100 with 3:36 left.
Lawson's two free throws gave Denver its first lead, 104-102, with 3:06 left.
The Bucks (25-22) trailed by one when the Nuggets' defense came alive. Two straight steals by the Nuggets led to fast-break buckets and gave Denver a 108-103 lead with 1:27 left.
The Nuggets (31-18) came out strong in the third quarter and quickly cut a 15-point deficit to three. However, Milwaukee finished the period strong to take an 86-79 lead into the fourth.
Dalembert was nearly perfect in the first half, hitting his first nine shots and finishing 10-for-11 from the field for 21 points.
Brandon Jennings was the catalyst for the late-second-quarter surge that gave Milwaukee a double-digit advantage. Jennings scored eight points in the last 3:48 as the Bucks took a 66-51 lead at the break.
NOTES: Nuggets center JaVale McGee returned to the lineup after missing three games with a sore left shin. ... The Bucks' all-time record in Denver fell to 8-34. ... The Nuggets have five games left before the All-Star break, and Milwaukee has four. "I've already talked to the team about how crazy things happen in these stretch of games," Denver coach George Karl said. "If you follow the scoreboard, there are a lot of 25- and 30-point leads in the second half of games. It's just a difficult time to keep a focus. When one team doesn't have focus and the other team has intense focus, bad games happen." ... Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan and Karl are both cancer survivors and share a bond. "For both of us, I can imagine every day is a little bit nicer and we appreciate where we're at and just enjoy the moment," Boylan said.
