New Orleans within nine late in the second but the Nuggets led

DENVER - The Denver Nuggets were struggling and scuffling when they left for the road a week ago. Brian ONeill Jersey . Five games later they look like the team coach Brian Shaw envisioned.Kenneth Faried and Arron Afflalo scored 19 points each, Wilson Chandler had 18 and Denver beat the New Orleans Pelicans 117-97 on Friday night.Danilo Gallinari had 17 points and JaVale McGee 14 for the Nuggets, who have won four of their last five after starting the season 1-6. They took two of three on the road last weekend and have won two straight at Pepsi Center to even their home record at 3-3.We still have a long way to go, Shaw said. It took longer than we would have liked but its nice to see it coming together.Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 18 points and nine rebounds. It was the first time in eight games Davis has failed to eclipse 20 points.We just have to move on, Davis said. Youre going to have games like this.Davis looked like he was going to have a big night when he scored 10 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans led by 14-2 in the first four minutes, but a timeout by Shaw and a threat to bring in the bench got the starters motivated.We started playing a little defence, got the lead back and control of the game, guard Ty Lawson said. We all knew it was being lazy. Just gave the extra effort and it got better.Denver rallied to tie it at 18-all midway through the first. The Nuggets used an 11-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to take a 37-26 lead.They never trailed again.The advantage grew to 50-34 on two free throws by Gallinari. Jrue Holidays 3-pointer got New Orleans within nine late in the second but the Nuggets led 59-49 at halftime.Gallinaris 17 points were a season high for the forward, who is coming off two ACL surgeries on his left knee.If you dont play basketball for 19 months, trust me, its not easy to come back, he said. You think it is but it is not.The Pelicans got within eight in the third quarter but Denver began to pull away behind Chandler. He scored six straight points, including a 3-pointer with 8:46 left, to put the Nuggets ahead 98-77.We have an identity, New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. When we stray away from that, we get this result.McGee had three dunks and Nate Robinson hit another 3-pointer to put Denver up 107-83 midway through the fourth.___GOOD LUCK SMOOCHMcGee gave the crowd a laugh when he fell into the courtside seats trying to save a ball in the second quarter. Before he got up he planted a kiss on a female fan.Thats my Buddha, McGee said. I dont know her name but thats my Buddha.SCUFFED PAINTNew Orleans came into Fridays game leading the NBA in points in the paint but was outscored 52-32 in the lane.They got all the 50-50 balls, Davis said. They turned them into a layup or a dunk or a three. Something good for them.TIP INSPelicans: Center Omer Asik re-aggravated his back during warm-ups and was a late scratch from the lineup. He has now missed three straight games with the injury. ... New Orleans is averaging an NBA-low 10.9 turnovers a game. In Tuesdays win over Sacramento, the Pelicans had a season-low six turnovers. They had eight in the first 15 minutes against Denver and didnt have another for 12 minutes. They finished with 13, one off their season high.Nuggets: The Nuggets entered Friday averaging just 13.8 turnovers a game. That would stand as the best in franchise history for a full season. They had 10 against New Orleans. ... In Denvers four wins before Friday, Chandler was averaging 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. ... Lawson is fifth on the franchise list in assists. He trails Michael Adams by 57 for fourth. ... Eight players played 20 or more minutes for Denver.UP NEXTBulls: At Utah on Saturday night.Nuggets: At L.A. Lakers on Sunday night. Buy Cheap Vikings Jerseys . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. Wholesale Vikings Jerseys .That means, of course, that John Wall beat the Spurs for the first time ever — within weeks of his first wins in head-to-head games against nemeses Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. http://www.cheapvikingsjerseyschina.com/daniel-carlson-jersey/ .com) - Even-money favorite Liams Map proved a little too tough down the stretch and won Saturdays $100,000 Harlans Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park.RALEIGH, N.C. - Eric Staal and Nathan Gerbe got the Carolina Hurricanes off on the right foot Tuesday night, ending their struggles against the Tampa Bay Lightning.Staal, who scored on Carolinas first shift Tuesday night, and Justin Faulk each had a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes led the rest of the way in a 4-2 victory that broke a six-game losing streak in the series.Jiri Tlusty also scored and Jordan Staal had two assists to help Carolina win its third straight. The Hurricanes, 7-2-1 in their last 10, snapped the Lightnings three-game winning streak.Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin finished with 28 saves for his sixth straight win.It was huge, Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said of the quick start. Playing catch-up hockey is losing hockey in this league. We want to start on time. Its part of the culture we want to establish, and weve done that here recently.Its been a good month. Guys have improved and weve continued to grow. Its all a process and a plan and well just continue to work the plan.Cedric Paquette and Brian Boyle scored for Tampa Bay. Ben Bishop stopped 18 shots to fall to 5-1-0 all-time against the Hurricanes.The Lightning had won nine of the previous 10 meetings.It was terrible, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of his teams start. We came out and gave a goal up in the first (22) seconds. Thats unacceptable — its basically an own goal.But weve got to give them credit. Theyre going to the net and were down two-zip before you know it. I thought we carried the last half of the first, but their goalie made the saves.Carolina right wing Alexander Semin was a healthy scratch for the eighth time in 12 games since Jordan Staal rejoined the lineup following his recuperation from a broken leg.Carolina led 2-1 after the penalty-free first period despite being outshot 14-7.Eric Staal scored from the right circle on an assist from his brother Jordan just 22 seconds into the game, the puck ricocheting into the net off the stick of defenceman Anton Stralman.Well take it, Eric Staal said. We were down in there and and they were nnot as sharp with the puck down in their end. Youth Vikings Jerseys. Its always nice to get a two-goal lead, especially against that team.Its been a lot more fun being on the right side of the games (after a 10-23-4 start.) Its a good feel with our lineup. Guys know their roles and whats being asked of them and theyre contributing.Gerbe doubled the lead at 6:05, picking up the puck in the left circle and slamming it past Bishop stick-side following Brett Bellemores blast from the right point that tipped Elias Lindholm before ricocheting off the end boards.Paquette got the Lightning on the board at 14:05, the puck slowly sliding between Khudobins pads off the skate of defenceman Bellemore in a crowded crease.Faulk added a power-play goal for the Hurricanes on a blast from the high slot at 7:27 of the second.In this league any team can win on any given night, said Faulk, who was the Hurricanes sole representative in the All-Star Game on Sunday. I know thats kind of cliche, but what separates the best teams from the worst teams is who does it more consistently, who brings their game 60 minutes. When were able to go that we can get up there. Its nice to have a full, healthy lineup every night.Boyle got a short-handed goal for Tampa Bay with 5:54 left in the second, when he stole the puck from Victor Rask along the left boards and skated in untouched.But Tlusty scored on a rush from Faulk at 7:53 of the third.NOTES: Tampa Bay will host Detroit on Tuesday night, while Carolina will host St. Louis on Friday night ... Eric Staals first-period goal was the Hurricanes fastest to start a game this season, and the earliest Carolina goal since Semin scored 16 seconds into a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay on April 21, 2013. ... Carolina D Ryan Murphy was recalled from Charlotte of the AHL on Tuesday. ... C Andrej Nestrasil and D John-Michael Liles were also healthy scratches for the Hurricanes. ... Carolina D Ryan Murphy was recalled from Charlotte (AHL) earlier on Tuesday. ... RW J.T. Brown and D Luke Witkowski were healthy scratches for Tampa Bay. 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