Nuggets 129, Pacers 126

[January 18, 2016]  DENVER -- Guard Randy Foye scored four points in the final 21 seconds, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer, and the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 129-126 on Sunday night.

Forward Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets (16-25) with 23 points before fouling out with 3:39 left. Guard Will Barton scored 15 of his 21 in the fourth quarter, and guard Gary Harris had 20. Rookie center Nikola Jokic scored 18.

The Nuggets rallied to tie it late and went in front 126-123 on Foye's 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 20.9 seconds left.

Barton hit two free throws with six seconds left, and Indiana forward Paul George missed a fall-away 3-pointer in the waning moments.

Center Myles Turner scored a career-high 25 points, and guard Monta Ellis had 24 for Indiana. George added 19 for the Pacers, who have not won in Denver since 2007.

Indiana began its four-game Western Conference with a disappointing loss. The Pacers (22-19) played without guards George Hill (personal reasons), guard Rodney Stuckey (right foot sprain) and center Ian Mahinmi (left heel).

Denver fell behind by 15 in the first half but rallied in the third. Jokic scored nine points and Harris seven as the Nuggets took a two-point lead.

Indiana, which had a cold start to the third, finished the period strong. The Pacers outscored Denver 13-4 to lead 91-84 entering the fourth.

Turner's dunk extended the lead to 10, but Denver scored eight straight to cut it to 101-99. Barton hit a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 106-105 lead.

The Pacers surged back ahead by six, but Barton's 3-pointer with 3:20 left tied it at 119. Ellis put Indiana back in front by two, but Denver tied on a driving dunk by guard Emmanuel Mudiay.

Ellis had 13 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter when the hot-shooting Pacers outscored Denver by 12. Indiana hit 66 percent of their first-half shots and was 7-for-10 from 3-point range to lead 66-54 at the break.

The 66 points were a season high for the first half for the Pacers.

For the game, Indiana shot 58.5 percent from the floor, while Denver shot 50.5 percent.

NOTES: The Pacers had 10 available players. ... Denver G Jameer Nelson was out with a sprained left wrist sustained Friday against Miami. Coach Michael Malone said there wasn't serious damage to Nelson's wrist but it was sore and swollen. ... Indiana has lost seven straight in Denver. The Pacers are 15-26 overall in Colorado. ... Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic (left knee) missed his second straight game. Nurkic had the knee surgically repaired in the offseason and missed the team's first 33 games.

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