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Spurs, Nuggets square off in the Rockies

Dec 14, 2014 - 3:19 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs will play their next two games outside the Alamo City, starting with Sunday's showdown with the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

The Spurs have a trip to Portland slated for Monday and are 8-5 on the road.

San Antonio had won three of four games until Friday's overtime loss to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers reserve Nick Young, not Bryant, took the final shot and hit a 3-pointer with 7.4 seconds left for a 112-110 win.

Spurs future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who needed 15 points to pass Jerry West for 18th on the all-time scoring list, paced his team with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Manu Ginobili and Corey Joseph had 18 and 16 points, respectively, for San Antonio, which shot 46.7 percent and had 19 turnovers for 25 LA points.

Joseph played the entire fourth quarter and overtime in place of Tony Parker, who returned to the lineup after a three-game absence due to a hamstring injury. Parker was limited to five points and two assists in 17 minutes.

"The more experience I get, the more confident I get," Joseph said. "I'm just confident out there doing me."

Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard has missed back-to-back games with a hand bruise and is questionable Sunday. He is averaging 14.8 points per game.

The Nuggets have lost five of their last six games and will play four straight and seven of the next nine at home.

In Saturday's 108-96 setback to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center, Dwight Howard returned from injury to post 26 points and 13 rebounds in leading the hosts to victory. NBA leading scorer James Harden (26.3 ppg) posted a triple-double of 24 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.

Donatas Motiejunas had 25 points for Houston.

Denver was led by Ty Lawson's 19 points and 12 assists, and Darrell Arthur scored a team-high 20 points off the bench. J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Nuggets shot 37.5 percent with 16 turnovers.

"We got dominated by their big guys inside," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said.

The Nuggets have a 6-4 home record and look to make up some ground in the Rockies over the next few days. Sunday's matchup won't be easy, but the Nuggets (103.1 ppg) are scoring more than San Antonio (101.7 ppg).

Denver, though, is allowing 104.8 points this season, 27th in the NBA. The Spurs are second in opponents' scoring at 95.1 ppg.

The Nuggets and Spurs will play the first of four meetings this season, and Denver lost all three matchups in 2013-14. Duncan averaged 22.0 points and nine rebounds in three games against Denver last season, while Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried recorded 19.0 points and 10.3 boards.