Denver Puts Away Clippers With 47-Point 3rd Quarter

Lafayette Lever scored 16 points and Alex English 14 in the third quarter as the Denver Nuggets tied an National Basketball Assn. season-high with 47 points in the period en route to a 140-112 victory over the Clippers Monday night.

It was the first victory for Denver in three games this season against the Clippers, the worst team in the league with a 7-38 record.

Denver led, 64-55, at the half, then made certain there would be no repeat of the Clippers’ previous victories by outscoring the visitors, 47-22, in the third quarter.

The Nuggets shot 72%, making 18 of their 25 shots from the floor in the period.

Lever finished with 23 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. English led all scorers with 28 points, Mark Alarie had 18 and Blair Rasmussen 16 for Denver.

Quintin Dailey and Larry Drew each had 16 points for the Clippers.

The Clippers’ Rory White was taken to a Denver hospital for overnight observation after suffering a lower back strain early in the second quarter.

Asked what his reaction would have been if the Nuggets had lost again to the Clippers, Denver Coach Doug Moe said: “I wouldn’t have shot myself. I enjoy life too much for that. But I would have been totally depressed.

“The best thing that happened from our standpoint was when the Clippers beat Utah Saturday night. I think it showed our guys they had to come out and play hard tonight. We lost to this team before because we weren’t aggressive. But tonight we were aggressive from the start.”

Alarie said the Nuggets were very aware of their record against the Clippers this year.

“Obviously, that was a factor for us,” he said. “They made a run at us in the second quarter. But I really didn’t think it was going to be a close game at the half, and then we really blew them out in the third quarter.”

Clipper Coach Don Chaney admitted his team was bucking the odds. “The chances for any decent team in this league falling three straight times to a team with our record would be highly unusual,” he said.

“We knew they’d be up for this game. They looked like the old Denver team I’m used to seeing. They had very good movement and passed the ball very well.”