DENVER, Colorado — The high-flying Los Angeles Clippers failed to stretch their 17-game NBA winning streak into the New Year, slipping to defeat against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets stopped the Clippers' impressive run with a 92-78 victory, handing Los Angeles their first defeat since they fell at home to New Orleans on Nov. 26. Danilo Gallinari scored 17 points and added six rebounds. Kenneth Faried scored 14 points with 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have won three of their past four games. The Clippers came into the contest riding a club-record winning streak, their 107-96 victory over the Utah Jazz Sunday making them just the third team in league history to go 16-0 in a single calendar month. The streak was the longest in the NBA since the Boston Celtics won 19 straight from Nov. 15-Dec. 23 in 2008. On Tuesday, however, the Clippers never led after the first quarter and coach Vinny Del Negro said his team was simply outplayed by the Nuggets. “We just didn't score the basketball,” said Del Negro, whose team shot just 38.5 percent from the floor and made just 13 of 29 free throw attempts. Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 12 points apiece. Trail Blazers 105, Knicks 100: The Trail Blazers overcame Carmelo Anthony's 45 points and spoiled Amare Stoudemire's season debut for the Knicks. Nicolas Batum scored 26 points for Portland, and Damian Lillard had 21 points, six assists and five rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Stoudemire had six points on 3-of-8 shooting and one rebound in 17 minutes off the bench in his return from knee surgery. Anthony shot 14 of 24 and nearly led the Knicks back from 19 points down after missing two games with a knee injury, but the Trail Blazers had too many options. J.J. Hickson scored all of his 18 points in the first half as Portland won for the third time in four games. J.R. Smith had 28 points and 11 rebounds for New York. 76ers 103, Lakers 99: Jrue Holiday had 26 points and 10 assists, and Evan Turner added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Philadelphia over Los Angeles. The Lakers (15-16) have matched their worst start after 31 games since the 2002-03 season, when they began defense of their third straight NBA title with a 12-19 record. Kobe Bryant, who shifted from shooting guard to small forward five games ago in coach Mike D'Antoni's redesigned rotation, led the Lakers with 36 points. Steve Nash added 12 points and 10 assists. Down by nine with just under 3 minutes to play, the Lakers closed to 99-97 on Bryant's 3-pointer with 1:28 left. But Spencer Hawes responded with a 21-footer 16 seconds later and Holiday helped close it out on a driving dunk with 22.4 seconds on the clock. Hawks 95, Hornets 86: Josh Smith scored 10 of his 23 points in the third quarter to lead Atlanta to the win. Al Horford added 20 points, Kyle Korver had 14 and Zaza Pachulia 12 for the Hawks. Hornets guard Eric Gordon, playing in his first home game this season, scored 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting. He made his season debut in a victory over Charlotte Saturday after recovering from a knee injury. Ryan Anderson scored 23 points and Greivis Vasquez added 17 for the Hornets. Vasquez also had 10 assists and nine rebounds. The Hornets' Anthony Davis struggled from the floor, making four of nine shots for nine points but had 12 rebounds and blocked four shots. Mavericks 103, Wizards 94: Vince Carter scored 23 points, O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison had 15 apiece and the Mavericks snapped a six-game losing streak. When the Wizards (4-25) took a 14-point lead early in the second quarter, Dallas, which had arrived in Washington in the midst of its longest skid in nearly 14 years, rallied. The Mavericks trailed by four at the half and outscored the Wizards 35-19 in the third to take an 83-71 lead. Chris Kaman scored 12 points for Dallas, and Shawn Marion had 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Bradley Beal equaled a career high with 22 points for the Wizards. Pistons 103, Kings 97: Greg Monroe had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and the Pistons held on for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Sacramento cut a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to one, and Detroit led 100-97 when Austin Daye made a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down with 11.5 seconds left. Detroit has won five of six, in large part because of terrific play from its reserves. The group scored 44 points Tuesday despite losing Charlie Villanueva to a second-quarter ejection. DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings. — Agencies
