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Nuggets hold off Pacers

Feb 12, 2012 - 5:31 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Ty Lawson scored 27 points to lead the Nuggets to a 113-109 win over the Pacers on Saturday.

"It was a great win for us. Obviously Ty [Lawson] was spectacular the whole night," said Denver head coach George Karl. "We got back to being a solid offensive team, passing the ball and spacing well."

Denver had five scorers in double figures, including 23 points from Arron Afflalo and 19 from Corey Brewer, as the Nuggets snapped a five-game losing streak.

Danny Granger led the way for the Pacers with 26 points and David West chipped in 22 points and seven rebounds. A.J. Price scored 13 points off the bench for a Pacers team that has now dropped a season-high three straight games.

"We played hard tonight. But they played a little harder and executed a little better," said Price. "We know we can bounce back. We have not face this, this year. But we know that we're up to it."

Back-to-back triples from Paul George around an Al Harrington layup pulled the Pacers within four, 106-102, with 3:07 remaining in regulation.

After an Andre Miller miss, Darren Collison got the hoop and the harm to close the gap to 106-105 heading into the home stretch.

The Pacers had a chance to pull within one again on a three-point play but West's free throw was off the mark. Afflalo missed a jumper on the other end, and Indiana had the ball trailing 111-109 with 22.5 seconds to go.

Indiana looked to go inside to West again, but his kick out pass went wide of Collison and bounced into the backcourt for an over-and-back violation.

Afflalo, who scored 12 points in the final frame, calmly stepped to the charity stripe and hit both foul shots to give the Nuggets a two-possession lead.

Granger came out of the gates scorching as he scored 18 points in the first quarter on 7-of-9 shooting to give the Pacers a 35-26 lead heading into the second stanza.

The Nuggets showed resolve, reeling off 10 straight points to cut the lead to 53-51 with 3:05 left until halftime.

Ty Lawson finished the first half with 17 points, including a floater that capped the scoring to pull the Nuggets even, 60-60, heading into the locker room.

The two teams exchanged buckets throughout the third quarter as the Nuggets took a slight 87-84 lead into the final stanza.

Game Notes

The Pacers have dropped 12 of 15 meetings in this series...The Pacers are 7-3 at home...The Pacers will host Miami on Tuesday, while Denver will host the Suns on Tuesday...The Nuggets won the points in the paint battle 62-46...The Pacers turned the ball over 20 points which led to 22 points for the Nuggets.