DENVER (AP) ― Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points to lead a balanced attack and the Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to 15 games with a 101-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Kenneth Faried had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who have won a franchise-best 17 straight at home.
And they did it while Ty Lawson (right heel) and Wilson Chandler (shoulder), two of their top players, were out with injuries.
Lawson and Chandler have been catalysts in Denver’s winning streak. Lawson has scored 20-plus points in 20 of his last 31 games and hit the game-winner against Oklahoma City on March 1.
Chandler, fully recovered from offseason hip surgery that cost him most of the first half of the season, has been big off the bench.
He has scored 35 points twice and 24 in another game. His play Monday in Chicago helped the Nuggets win in overtime and extend their streak to 12 games.
Chandler and Lawson were injured in the Nuggets’ 114-104 win at Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. Chandler separated his left shoulder and Lawson bruised his right heel. Without the pair Friday the Nuggets needed six points in the final 10 seconds to cap a frantic comeback for a one-point win over Philadelphia.
Though they had all five starters in double figures against Sacramento on Saturday, it took until the final minutes to hold off the Kings, who got 24 points and 15 rebounds from DeMarcus Cousins.
They used a 7-0 run early in the fourth to take an 81-76 lead, but Sacramento hung around, getting within a bucket twice. Kosta Koufos scored on a layup and Faried’s fast-break dunk gave Denver a 95-88 lead with 3:44 left.
Two layups by Cousins made it 95-92, but he missed a short shot in the lane that would have made it a one-point game. Andre Miller’s three-point play with 51 seconds made it 98-92.
Deng, Boozer power Bulls
CHICAGO (AP) ― Luol Deng scored 20 points, Carlos Boozer had 18 and the Chicago Bulls overcame the absence of starting center Joakim Noah to earn an 87-84 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.
Deng had 13 points at halftime, but Chicago’s reserves sparked the Bulls’ second-half rally, outscoring Indiana’s reserves 32-15 to snap the Pacers’ three-game winning streak. Taj Gibson scored 11, and Daequan Cook and Nate Robinson had nine apiece.
The Bulls went on a 13-5 run starting the fourth quarter to take an 81-72 lead. A four-point play by George Hill brought Indiana within 87-84 in the final minute.
After a missed driving shot by Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich with 16 seconds left, the Pacers had a chance to tie, but Paul George had two 3-point tries go off the rim in the final 10 seconds, including one at the final buzzer.
George led the Pacers with 23 points, but he was held to three points in the fourth quarter when Indiana missed 13 of its first 15 shots from the field.
Deng had plantar fasciitis in his right foot in February and missed three games, but has had not missed a game due to the injury since then. Without Deng, veteran Nazr Mohammed got the start and Indiana immediately attacked inside, going to center Roy Hibbert, who finished with 18 points.
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