NBA Roundup : Nuggets Win 8th Straight; 40 for Engkish

Alex English scored 40 points, leading the Denver Nuggets to their eighth straight victory, a 121-110 decision over the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night at Denver.

Fat Lever contributed 15 points, 5 steals, 8 assists, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots from his point guard position for Denver. English added 8 assists in his 33 minutes of play.

Behind the shooting of English, Denver built a 59-46 lead in the first half. But Dallas took the lead with a 17-2 run, which began with 1:29 left in the second period and carried over after intermission.

English tied the score with a baseline drive and a Wayne Cooper dunk put Denver on top for good, 65-63.

Denver built a 90-79 lead after three periods. Dallas stormed back in the fourth after the Nuggets had led by as much as 14 points, closing to within 108-104.

The Nuggets ran off eight straight points in the next 1:43 and were never threatened again.

Rolando Blackman scored 28 points and Mark Aguirre 23 for the Nuggets.

Portland 129, Golden State 109--Kiki Vandeweghe scored 32 points at Oakland and the Trail Blazers handed the Warriors their 16th straight defeat.

The Warriors led, 52-51, at halftime, but Jim Paxson hit a jumper at the outset and Portland never trailed again. Clyde Drexler scored 10 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the Trail Blazers pulled away.

Purvis Short scored 32 points for the Warriors.

Seattle 96, San Antonio 94--Jack Sikma scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and the SuperSonics rallied to beat the Spurs at Seattle.

Sikma scored 10 points as the Sonics overcame a 53-46 halftime deficit by outscoring the Spurs, 27-15, and didn’t trail again.

George Gervin and Johnny Moore scored 19 apiece for San Antonio.