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 "It's good to get that monkey off our back," Lawson said. "We
didn't (want) to go into the break with a seven-game losing streak."
Lawson, who scored 28 in the second half, tied season highs in
points (32) and assists (16), leading the Nuggets to a 106-96
victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at Staples
Center.
Backup forward Darrell Arthur added 15 points for the Nuggets
(20-33), who won for only the second time in 15 games. Forwards
Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson scored 13 apiece, while guard Randy
Foye chipped in 12 points.
The Nuggets wiped out a 12-point deficit in the first half and built
a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter before turning back
the Lakers in the final minute.
"It was tough, especially in the first half coming off
back-to-backs," said Lawson, referring to Denver's 124-114 setback
to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. "Everybody's legs were
kind of dead. It's no excuse, but all our shots were short. We just
kept at it; we're a tough-minded team. We've been down a lot this
year, so we've learned how to make a little bit of a comeback."
 Reserve forward Carlos Boozer scored 21 points and grabbed 10
rebounds for the Lakers (13-39), who dropped their fifth in a row
and 14th in the past 15 games. Guard Wayne Ellington finished with
18 points.
"He got a few open looks and they went in for him," Ellington said
of Lawson, his college teammate at North Carolina. "He just ran with
it."
Two foul shots by Lawson produced a 93-83 advantage with 5:45
remaining in the game. Los Angeles, though, mounted an 11-2 run, and
a jumper by forward Wesley Johnson with 2:45 left pulled the Lakers
within 95-94.
After the teams exchanged baskets, Lawson and Arthur converted
jumpers for a 101-96 lead with 54.3 seconds remaining. Lawson, who
made 12 of 20 shots from the floor, stole a pass by guard Jeremy Lin
and scored on a layup for a seven-point margin, putting the game out
of reach.
"Ty Lawson changed the game," said Boozer, who scored 15 points
after halftime. "In the second half, he was so much more aggressive.
They put us in a pickle. He was pushing the ball in transition, he
was setting everybody up.
"We tried a couple of different things. We tried to blitz him and
make other guys score. He found the right guys. We tried to go under
on the pick-and-roll when he started hitting his jump shots. He just
took over the game."
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Los Angeles led by as many as 12 points in the first half before a
dreadful shooting exhibition in the second quarter allowed Denver to
close the gap. A jumper by Ellington, who scored 13 first-half
points on 6-of-7 shooting, gave the Lakers a 44-32 advantage with
4:57 left in the second quarter. However, the Nuggets responded with
a 13-4 spurt to close the period and cut the Lakers' lead to 48-45
at the break.
The Lakers made only 28 percent of their shots in the second quarter
compared to 52 percent for the Nuggets. For the game, Los Angeles
connected on 43.5 percent to 54.4 percent for Denver.
The Nuggets also committed only seven turnovers to 12 for the
Lakers.
"Well, I'm happy for the first time in a long time," Denver coach
Brian Shaw said. "We got the win. It wasn't a pretty first half, but
the guys came out the second half, energized and took care of
business on the defensive side. Our offense got going. It was a heck
of a performance by Ty Lawson, who put his team on his back."
NOTES: Lakers coach Byron Scott remains confident owner Jim Buss is
capable of leading an eventual reversal of the club's misfortunes.
Lakers great Magic Johnson publicly ripped Buss again Tuesday,
saying the son of the late Jerry Buss is in over his head. Scott
said, "I've been (working) with Jim since July. I haven't spent a
ton of time with him, but the guy has an unbelievable passion for
this game and this organization, and I know he wants this thing to
work out extremely well, like we all do." Scott added that he spoke
to Johnson several times recently, but the two rarely talk about the
Lakers. ... Denver won't play again until after the All-Star break,
when it visits the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 20. ... Los Angeles
visits the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday in its final game
before the break.
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