Recap: San Antonio vs. Denver
Sports Network | November 19, 2008
San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, doled out six assists and hauled in five rebounds to lead the Denver Nuggets in a 91-81 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Carmelo Anthony poured in 21 points, grabbed nine boards and dished out seven helpers for the Nuggets, who have won four straight and seven of eight overall. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and Nene 16 in the win.
George Hill scored 20 points for the Spurs, who saw their season-high three- game win streak come to an end. Michael Finley gave 13 points, while Tim Duncan had 12 points and 11 boards.
The Nuggets held a slight 22-21 lead after 12 minutes but opened a 50-40 lead at the break.
Denver led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but a Duncan three- point play made it 62-51 with five minutes left in the stanza.
With the Spurs still trailing by 11, the Nuggets closed out the quarter with an 11-1 run to take a 75-54 lead into the final stanza. Billups had seven points on the run, with Anthony pouring in two technical free throws off a Duncan foul, while Martin's dunk closed it out.
A Roger Mason layup and Anthony Tolliver three-pointer brought the Spurs to within 14 points, 85-71, with 5 1/2 minutes left.
The home team failed to close within the final margin the rest of the way, as the Nuggets cruised to an easy victory.
The Spurs went 2-for-17 from three-point range. The Nuggets were 6-of-13 from behind the arc...San Antonio was 29-of-75 from the field, as Denver hit 30- of-65 shots from the floor...Denver improved to 5-1 since acquiring Billups in a trade for Allen Iverson with Detroit.
