Al Harrington leads the Denver Nuggets to 115–112 victory over the San Antonio Spurs
Al Harrington scored 27 points off the bench and Wilson Chandler hit a clutch jumper with 29.3 seconds left to lead the Denver Nuggets to a narrow 115–112 win over the San Antonio Spurs at the Pepsi Centre on Wednesday night.
The Spurs were playing without big-man Tim Duncan, but they still made the Denver Nuggets sweat with their three-point shooting display, as they went 9-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Tim Duncan severely sprained his ankle on Monday against the Golden State Warriors and is out indefinitely. An MRI scan confirmed that it was just a sprain; nothing too serious. Kenyon Martin’s defensive job on Manu Ginobili in the final minutes proved to
be the difference, as Ginobili was forced into taking some tough shots.
Ginobili praised the way Martins played on the night. He said, "Six seconds to go, down by three and I had Kenyon Martin all over me. I couldn't get closer. It's not like I had a lot of options."
Denver are now 11-4 since trading Carmelo Anthony.
San Antonio had a good opening quarter as they stacked up 34 points in the first 12 minutes and led by 10 going into the second. Tony Parker scored nine points and Ginobili added 8 in the quarter to lead the Spurs offensive attack early on.
The second period was a high-scoring one as both teams brought their A-game. Gary Neal poured in 14 points off the bench for the Spurs to set the tone, while Al Harrington was also active for the Nuggets, as he added 13 points. Manu Ginobili nailed back-to-back
threes to close out the quarter.
San Antonio led 69 -64 halfway through the game.
Bench scoring was prominent for the Nuggets as the replacements scored 63 points to assist the starters.
Denver shot 50.6 percent from the floor and obliterated San Antonio in fast-break points with a 21–2 advantage. Raymond Felton had 18 points and eight assists on the night, while J.R. Smith also added 18. Al Harrington went an amazing 8-for-12 from the field
and provided the Nuggets with good numbers off the bench.
An excited Harrington said after the game, "I've always felt like I was a rhythm player. Sometimes it's hard for me to get it going in 4 or 5 minutes. I realise the more aggressive and better I play the more I'll play."
The Nuggets closed the gap to three points at the end of the third period and set up a thrilling fourth quarter. Al Harrington fired a jumper from downtown to spark an 11–0 run and give the Nuggets a three-point lead with six and a half minutes left in the
game.
With over a minute to go, San Antonio’s Gary Neal made a driving layup to tie the game at 112-112 and Wilson Chandler responded by burying a clutch lean-in jumper to win it for Denver.
Manu Ginobili top-scored for the Spurs and was assisted by Tony Parker with his 19 points and five assists. Gary Neal provided a strong punch off the bench, going 6-for-8 from beyond-the-arc on his way to 25 points.
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