• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Spurs outlast Nuggets in shootout

Jan 8, 2012 - 5:45 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Danny Green had a career night, scoring 24 points and pulling down seven rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 121-117 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Richard Jefferson made five three-pointers en route to 19 points for the Spurs, who are off to a 6-0 start at home for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign. Tony Parker added 19 points and six assists.

"He's been shooting the ball well," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Jefferson. "He's playing aggressively and he's got a lot of confidence. He's been a big part of winning ball games."

Gary Neal, Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter had 10 points apiece. Blair added 10 rebounds for San Antonio, which has won three straight.

Danilo Gallinari ended with 31 points and five rebounds for the Nuggets, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Ty Lawson donated 20 points and 10 assists.

Al Harrington had 19 points for Denver, which lost despite shooting 56.8 percent from the floor. Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively.

But the Nuggets couldn't stop Green, who went 9-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

"He shoots the ball pretty well," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He got to the rim more than I thought he would. He played with composure and we realized midway through the third he was going to have one of those huge games. Next time we'll realize a little earlier."

Holding a 12-10 lead, the Spurs went on an 8-2 flurry. Parker's layup made it a 20-12 game with 4:58 left in the first quarter. The score was 37-25 after 12 minutes.

A Jefferson three-pointer and T.J. Ford jumper gave San Antonio a 53-33 margin with 7:44 remaining.

Denver got back into the game with a 13-0 run late in the period. Gallinari's jumper cut the gap to 57-51 with two minutes left. The margin was 62-55 at the break.

A tightly played third quarter resulted in the Spurs taking a 94-85 lead into the fourth.

Harrington's layup and Rudy Fernandez's three-pointer had Denver within two, 106-104, with six minutes to play.

But Jefferson and Parker made jumpers to give the Spurs a six-point cushion. Jefferson added a big three-pointer with 1:53 left to give the Spurs a 115-107 edge.

Game Notes

San Antonio took three of four matchups with Denver a year ago and is 15-6 in the past 21 encounters at the AT&T Center...The Spurs shot 55.1 percent from the field...San Antonio had 16 turnovers, leading to 25 Denver points.