Nuggets end Clippers’ league-best winning run

DENVER, Colorado - Reuters

Los Angeles Clippers star forward Blake Griffin reacts during his team’s surprising loss at the Nuggets. AP photo

The Nuggets brought the Los Angeles Clippers’ club record 17-game winning run to a halt on Jan. 1 with a 92-78 victory in Denver.

The Clippers (25-7), who went 16-0 in December to join the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs and 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers as the only teams to go a calendar month undefeated, stumbled into the new year absorbing their most lopsided loss of the season. It was their first defeat since Nov. 26.

The run was the longest in the NBA since 2009 when the Boston Celtics strung together 19.

“What did we accomplish is cool but they didn’t care about that tonight,” said guard Chris Paul, who scored 10 points. “We’re just upset about the loss, we didn’t care about the streak.”

Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 17 points while Kenneth Faried had 14 and 11 rebounds. Andre Miller added 12 points and 12 assists as the Nuggets improved their home record to 10-1.

Blake Griffin scored 12 points and pulled in nine rebounds but Paul and DeAndre Jordan (11) were the only other starters to score in double figures.

Leading by two after the first quarter, the Nuggets went on a 7-0 run to open the second and led the sluggish Clippers 48-43 at the half.

Denver continued to pull away after the break, outscoring Los Angeles 27-16 in the third quarter to open up a 16-point cushion then eased to a comfortable win.