Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Sports

Koufos scores season-high 16 as Nuggets hand Bobcats 15th straight loss

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 552b2965-Bobcats Nuggets Basketball
    Image 1 of 2

    Charlotte Bobcats center Byron Mullens reacts injuring his leg while contesting a shot against the Denver Nuggets late in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 110-88 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Mullens was helped off the court by teammates. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (The Associated Press)

  • 9da57513-Bobcats Nuggets Basketball
    Image 2 of 2

    Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, center, goes up for a shot between Charlotte Bobcats center Byron Mullens, left, and Bismack Biyombo, of the Republic of Congo, in the third quarter of the Nuggets' 110-88 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (The Associated Press)

DENVER – Kosta Koufos scored a season-high 16 points, and Kenneth Faried and Andre Iguodala added 15 points apiece as the Denver Nuggets beat Charlotte 110-88 and sent the Bobcats to their 15th consecutive loss on Saturday night.

JaVale McGee added 14 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 12 for Denver, which won its sixth in a row at home since its only loss there — 98-93 to Miami on Nov. 15.

Charlotte, playing the second of a back-to-back set on the road, was without injured guards Gerald Henderson and Ben Gordon. Henderson sustained a bruised shin during the second half of a 115-100 loss at Golden State on Friday. Gordon missed a second consecutive game because of soreness in his right knee.

Ramon Sessions had 23 points to lead Charlotte. Byron Mullens added 16.

Denver lost guard Ty Lawson to a left Achilles strain during the second quarter. He was held out the rest of the game for precautionary reasons, the team said.

The Nuggets, who missed an NBA-record 22 3-point attempts in Thursday night's 101-93 loss at Portland, missed their first six against the Bobcats. Jordan Hamilton finally found the range to give the Nuggets a 40-31 lead with 8:02 left in the second quarter.

That seemed to break the Nuggets' long-distance cold spell, complementing a sizzling inside game that saw Denver earn 36 assists and score 78 points in the paint, both season highs.

After a driving layup by Sessions pulled the Bobcats to within 44-39, the Nuggets went on a 15-3 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Danilo Gallinari and Andre Iguodala. That stretched Denver's lead to 59-44 with 45.2 seconds left in the second quarter.

Gallinari hit another 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to put Denver in front 64-46, the Nuggets' biggest lead to that point.

By the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets stretched their advantage to 88-65 following a tip shot by McGee, who finished with 14 points. Denver began substituting freely the rest of the way, and the undermanned Bobcats didn't threaten.

NOTES: Charlotte hasn't won since Nov. 24, a 108-106 victory at Washington in double overtime. ... Since the 2009-10 season, visiting NBA teams are 7-39 when playing the second of a back-to-back set in Denver. ... The Nuggets have scored at least 60 points in the paint eight times this season.