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 The Nuggets continued their fine play in 2013. They won 12 of 15 games in January, including a 10-2 mark at home, and got February started strong.
Ryan Anderson had 21 points and rookie Anthony Davis added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who have dropped three straight and five of six.
Denver led by three at halftime and increased it to as many as 11 in the third quarter. Iguodala scored 10 points and Lawson had nine, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Nuggets an 85-78 edge heading into the fourth.
The lead grew to 16 with 4:08 left after Iguodala's 3-pointer and Danilo Gallinari's fast-break layup. Anderson hit two 3-pointers to cut it to eight with 1:28 remaining, but the Hornets never really threatened.
Gallinari finished with 18 points and Corey Brewer had 17 off the bench for the Nuggets, who scored a season-high 32 points off 22 New Orleans turnovers.
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The Hornets trailed 26-20 late in the first quarter before scoring the next 14 points to go ahead with 9:29 left in the second. Denver turned up its defense after that, forcing eight turnovers and putting together a 16-4 run to go back ahead.
Brewer set the tone with 11 points in the quarter and scored on two fast-break dunks that gave Denver a 42-38 lead. The Nuggets were up 51-48 at halftime.
Eric Gordon, the Hornets' leading scorer, was held to three points on 0-for-2 shooting in the first half. He finished with nine points.
NOTES: Nuggets C JaVale McGee missed his third straight game with a sore left shin. ... Denver coach George Karl was named the Western Conference coach of the month for January. His team went 12-3. It was the seventh time in his career one of his teams has won at least 12 games in a month. ... The Hornets are 8-7 with Gordon in the lineup and 7-25 without him.
[Associated
Press; By MIKE KELLY]
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