NBA Roundup : Denver Rally Falls Just a Little Short

Last week, the Denver Nuggets overcame a 23-point deficit to beat Dallas by one in overtime. They almost topped that feat Thursday night at Kansas City when, trailing by 24 with less than eight minutes left, they rallied before losing, 142-140.

The Kings had a season-high 45 points in the second quarter, and the 282 total points in the game broke the previous record for most combined points at Kemper Arena. The old record was 275 points set Dec. 1, 1982 in a 143-132 Kings’ win over Chicago.

Denver entered the final period trailing, 118-96, but had 19 unanswered points in a rally sparked by Wayne Cooper, who scored 19 points in the final quarter, and Calvin Natt, who had 13.

Phoenix 119, San Antonio 117--Walter Davis hit a three-point basket with one second left to give the Suns the win at Phoenix. Davis took an inbounds pass from Alvin Scott with four seconds remaining, faked right and pulled up from 23 feet for the winning points.

Utah 122, Detroit 114--Guard Darrell Griffith scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half to help the Jazz win at Detroit. Kelly Tripucka, making only his second appearance after missing more than a month with an ankle injury, led the Pistons with 25.