Barnes and Paul lead Spurs past the short-handed Nuggets 113-106

By ARNIE STAPLETON

DENVER (AP) Harrison Barnes scored 20 points to lead six San Antonio players in double figures and the Spurs beat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 113-106 on Wednesday night.

In his second career start, Jaylen Pickett recorded his first triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Russell Westbrook scored 30 points, but didn't have any in the fourth quarter, when he missed a running reverse layup that would have tied the game with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

It was reminiscent of his gaffe one night earlier when he missed an uncontested breakaway layup, then commited a foul with one-tenth of a second left that allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to steal a 140-139 win in double-overtime.

After Westbrook's miss, Blake Wesley's fastbreak basket at the other end was followed by Sandro Mamukelashvili's dunk as the Spurs pulled ahead 105-99.

The Spurs, playing out the string without injured stars Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox, caught a big break when the Nuggets sat all five of their starters one night after losing to Minnesota 140-139 in double-overtime.

Denver coach Michael Malone challenged his reserves to play just like the starters, saying, “Our identity isn’t just tied to our five starters. Our identity, our culture permeates the entire locker room.”

Denver fell behind by 20 points in the first half and trailed 66-54 at halftime.

The Nuggets took their first lead on Pickett's drive with 10:30 left that put Denver ahead 90-88.

Spurs: San Antonio may be trudging through a lost season, but they did win twice in Denver. Chris Paul scored 17 points and had key back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Spurs a 101-95 lead.

Nuggets: Pickett's performance was a bright spot, as was the Nuggets' bounce-back from a 59-39 deficit.

Mamukelashvili pick-pocketed Westbrook with 3 seconds left in the first quarter, then slammed the ball home to give the Spurs a 33-21 lead. Westbrook was coming off an ignominious ending Tuesday night when he missed an uncontested layup in the closing seconds of Denver’s loss to Minnesota and then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker with one-tenth of a second left and a one-point lead.

The Nuggets had just two offensive boards in the first half and the Spurs had just three.

The Nuggets visit Golden State on Friday night, when the Spurs host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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