Nuggets rip Suns for rare win in Phoenix (AP)

PHOENIX (AP)—Nene scored 22 points in 26 minutes and the Denver Nuggets
won in Phoenix for the first time in 13 tries with a 116-97 rout of the
mistake-prone, cold-shooting Suns on Thursday night.

Coach George Karl ended an even longer drought in the desert. The Nuggets’
coach had not won in Phoenix since Dec. 28, 1997, when he was with the Seattle
SuperSonics. Karl had not won in Phoenix as coach of Milwaukee or Denver until
Thursday night.

The Nuggets, playing for the first time since losing to the Clippers in Los
Angeles on Saturday, converted the Suns’ 20 turnovers into 32 points and shot 52
percent to Phoenix’s 41.

Ty Lawson(notes) added 20 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets, who led by 24
after three quarters.

Marcin Gortat(notes) had 14 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds for the
Suns, who never led in their second-worst home loss of the season.

Phoenix made 5 of 22 3-pointers while blowing a chance to pull within a
half-game of idle Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Wilson Chandler(notes) added 16 points as Denver improved to 6-2 since the trade
that sent Carmelo Anthony(notes) to the New York Knicks.

Vince Carter(notes), coming off a 32-point performance in the Suns’ win over
Houston on Tuesday night, made 2 of 11 shots—0 of 5 on 3s—and scored six
points.

Phoenix committed 14 turnovers in the first half, and the Nuggets
efficiently turned them into 24 points. Two came on bad passes by Hakim Warrick(notes)
on consecutive possessions, the first with 6.1 seconds left in the half, the
second with 4.9 seconds to go. Each resulted in two points for Nene, two on an
uncontested dunk and two on free throws.

The Nuggets shot 57 percent in the first half, then opened the third quarter
with a 6-1 spurt to go up 65-50 on Lawson’s 21-footer, the guard staring at the
Suns bench as he backpedaled down the court after the basket.

Denver poured it on from there. When Aaron Brooks(notes) inexplicably fired a
3-pointer, and missed, with six seconds left in the third quarter rather than
working for a final shot, that allowed J.R. Smith(notes) to sink a 3 at the buzzer that
made it 90-66 entering the fourth quarter.

By then, though, the conclusion long had been cemented.

Denver broke open a 22-12 lead and the Suns never caught up.

Phoenix cut it to 36-34 on Jared Dudley’s(notes) baseline drive with 7:24 left in
the second quarter. But the Nuggets responded with a 14-4 run that made it 50-38
on Smith’s second 3-pointer of the night 3:51 before the break.

Fittingly, the game ended with a Phoenix turnover.

Notes: The Suns’ worst home loss was 121-96 to the New York Knicks on Jan.
7. … The loss was the worst overall for Phoenix since a 34-point drubbing in
Denver on Jan. 11 that left the Suns a season-worst six games under .500. …
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, appeared at the
game. … The game’s only ties after the tip were at 2-2 and 4-4. … A win
would have put the Suns five games above .500 for the first time this season.