Nuggets, Mavericks Win Easily at Home

The Denver Nuggets rewarded their fans for their patience.

Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the eighth-seeded Nuggets to a 107-86 victory over the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of their best-of-seven series Saturday night in Denver.

Playing at home in the postseason for the first time in nine years, the Nuggets earned their first home playoff victory in a decade and avoided falling behind 3-0 in the Western Conference series. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Denver.

Denver’s last home playoff game was May 2, 1995, a 99-95 loss to San Antonio.

Latrell Sprewell scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett had 24 for the Timberwolves, who fell behind by 17 points early in the game and mounted one serious threat after that.

Garnett had 11 rebounds, but he had averaged 21 in the first two games of the series. The Nuggets, led by Marcus Camby’s 16 rebounds, had a 53-36 edge on the boards.

Sprewell’s three-point basket got the Timberwolves to within eight, 67-59, with just under 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, but they didn’t make another basket until Garnett’s layup with 10:53 left in the game.

Andre Miller made two free throws after Sprewell’s three-point basket, starting an 11-0 run -- capped by Voshon Lenard’s three-pointer from the corner -- that made it 78-59 with 3:12 to go in the quarter.

Dallas 104, Sacramento 79 -- Playing with the desperation of a team facing elimination, even though it wasn’t the case, the Mavericks got back into their first-round series against the Kings in Dallas. And it took an undrafted rookie to get them started.

Marquis Daniels shook, spun and shot his way to 11 of his 22 points during a third-quarter spurt that helped the Mavericks rout the Kings in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.

Dallas, trailing 2-1, has a chance to even it in Game 4 Monday night.

The Mavericks came in confident of getting a lift merely by being at home, where they were a league-best 36-5 this season.

Sacramento was lucky to be so close at the half. Peja Stojakovic had only five points and Doug Christie and Vlade Divac were scoreless.

The Kings got to within 11 points in the third quarter, then Steve Nash made a wide-open three-point basket to start an 11-0 run and the game was never close again.

Sacramento hurt itself by making only four of 16 shots in the third quarter, missing its last seven.

The Kings, who never led, came within two points of matching their lowest total of the season.

Detroit 95, Milwaukee 85 -- The Pistons took back control of their playoff series with the Bucks the way they know best -- with defense.

Detroit, the first home team to lose a game in the playoffs this season, limited the Bucks to one free throw over the final four minutes at Milwaukee to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.

The Pistons gave up 30 points in the first quarter and needed a 23-4 run in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game.

New Orleans 77, Miami 71 -- The Hornets used tough defense and inspired play by their injured All-Star guard to get back into their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Baron Davis, nursing a sprained left ankle, had a team-high 21 points and the Hornets held the Heat to 32.9% shooting at New Orleans.

The Heat now leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Game 4 is Tuesday night in New Orleans.

New Orleans, coming off an embarrassing 93-63 loss in Game 2, led 59-50 early in the fourth quarter after George Lynch’s baseline jump shot.

Caron Butler made two free throws that cut Miami’s deficit to 73-71 with 1:47 left. But he missed a three-pointer that would have given the Heat the lead. Jamal Magliore made two free throws to give the Hornets a 75-71 lead with 55 seconds left.