Nuggets 108 - 91 Bulls
Final
  for this game

Lawson, Afflalo help Nuggets top Bulls

Mar 27, 2012 - 4:13 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Ty Lawson scored 27 points, Arron Afflalo had 22 and the Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-91, on Monday night.

Afflalo returned from a one-game suspension and played almost 38 minutes while Al Harrington scored 17 points off the bench for the Nuggets, who snapped a two-game losing streak and remained in a tight battle for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

Andre Miller had 12 points and 10 assists in the win and Denver improved to 1-2 on a seven-game road trip with a fast-paced attack that netted them 23 points on the break and frustrated the Bulls, who had trouble keeping up.

"We got into their game, which is transition, windshield wiper going back and forth, back and forth," said Chicago's John Lucas III. "That's not us. Defensively, we couldn't get stops."

The Bulls, without injured star Derrick Rose for the seventh straight game, were led by C.J. Watson's 17 points and eight assists.

Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Lucas each added 14 points in the loss -- just Chicago's third in 18 games. The Bulls, who clinched a playoff berth Saturday night on Luol Deng's buzzer-beater against Toronto, remained a solid No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.

The NBA suspended Afflalo for throwing an elbow at the head of Gordon Hayward during Friday's game against Utah.

He and Lawson played all 12 minutes in the third quarter and combined to score 15 points while the Nuggets swung the game solidly in their favor.

Lawson's layup sparked a 10-0 run to open the second half that staked Denver to a 64-52 lead. The advantage reached 16 points later in the third quarter when Afflalo's jumper made it 79-63.

"We were running. Even when they scored, we were trying to run it right back down their throat," said Lawson. "It's hard for a team to recover like that. They're still happy they got a bucket and they see us coming back at them."

The Nuggets then carried an 81-68 advantage into the fourth quarter and never let the Bulls get closer than nine while stretching their lead as high as 19 down the stretch.

The Bulls, who led by as many as eight points earlier in the game, fell to 12-5 with Rose out of the lineup this season. The reigning MVP is nursing a toe injury.

Game Notes

Denver has won four of the last five meetings...The Bulls are at Atlanta on Wednesday while the Nuggets continue their road trip in Toronto, also on Wednesday.






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