• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Nuggets crush Grizzlies

Jan 4, 2015 - 6:22 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Ty Lawson scored 25 points, handed out 11 assists and grabbed five rebounds in the Denver Nuggets' dominating 114-85 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

Lawson's backcourt mate, Arron Afflalo, chipped in 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to help Denver snap a three-game skid.

Kenneth Faried scored 13 points and pulled down 13 boards, and Jusuf Nurkic contributed 11 points, 10 boards and five blocks off the Nuggets' bench.

Marc Gasol scored 18 points as the Grizzlies saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Rookie Jordan Adams scored 12 in the final quarter on 5-of-6 shooting.

"We couldn't get stops," said Gasol. "You're not going to win too many games with that kind of defense."

In a game where the hosts took 31 trips to the line compared to Memphis' 13, frustration boiled over late in the third. After a Tony Allen foul was called in transition with 3:39 remaining, Grizzlies coach David Joerger was ejected when he quickly accumulated two technical fouls coming out onto the floor to argue the call.

After their coach was tossed, the Grizzlies were outscored 14-5 as the Nuggets led 83-60 after three. At the end of the period, Nurkic and Nick Calathes were assessed technical fouls after a heated argument between Nurkic and Gasol. Gasol took exception to Nurkic's two blocks just as the quarter ended.

The Nuggets got points from nine different players in the fourth as they emptied their bench. They shot 52.4 percent and got a pair of 3-pointers from Wilson Chandler. After his second triple, the lead ballooned to a game-high 33 when Gary Harris stole the ball from Adams and laid the ball in for his only points of the game.

With 2:47 left in the first period, Mike Conley's finger roll put the Grizzlies up 22-19. Denver finished the quarter on a 13-0 run to lead 32-22. Lawson hit a pair of triples, and Afflalo made one to power the spurt.

"We wanted to jump on them early, especially in this altitude," said Faried. "Tonight we really showed that this altitude and our style of play can really get to people."

Memphis scored the first six points of the second quarter to pull within four, but it would not get any closer. Neither team made a 3-pointer in a period each side struggled to make shots. The Nuggets led 49-38 at the break.

Game Notes

Denver snapped a two-game losing streak against Memphis and improved to 28-3 against the Grizzlies in Denver since the 1998-99 season ... The Grizzlies fall to 4-3 in the second half of back-to-back games ... A total of five technical fouls were assessed in the third quarter ... Denver outrebounded Memphis 48-37.