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Billups powering Nuggets surge

Dec 4, 2008 - 11:22 AM San Antonio (9-8) at Denver (13-6) 10:30 p.m. EST

DENVER (Ticker) -- Chauncey Billups has helped cure all of the Denver Nuggets' previous ailments.

Billups and the Nuggets go for their fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games on Thursday when they host the San Antonio Spurs.

Acquired on November 3 in the trade that sent Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons, Billups has guided the offense and helped Denver clamp down on defense, leading the team to an 12-3 record.

After setting season-highs for points in each of the last two games, Billups was on fire again Tuesday, scoring 24 points and dishing out a campaign-high 14 assists to pace the Nuggets to a 132-93 rout the Toronto Raptors.

Denver held Toronto to a season-low 37 percent shooting (34-of-93) and easily handed the Raptors their worst defeat of the season while tying the franchise record for their best mark after 19 games. Denver also was 13-6 in the 1976-77 and 1984-85 campaigns.

The Spurs are coming off their second straight loss - an 89-77 setback against Detroit on Tuesday.

San Antonio's star trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all scored in double figures, but no one else scored more than six. Duncan led the Spurs with 23 points and 13 boards.

Parker, who had 18 points, was not happy with his team's effort.

"This has got to be one of our worst games of the season. We just didn't perform well," Parker said. "They outplayed us at both ends of the court."