Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points and the Brooklyn Nets held off the Denver Nuggets 105-102 on Sunday for their third straight victory.
Denver had a chance to force overtime, but Jamal Murray missed a 3-pointer from the wing as time expired.
Jarrett Allen added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Brooklyn. Star guard Kyrie Irving missed his 12th straight game because of a right shoulder impingement.
Dinwiddie made consecutive driving layups to give Brooklyn a 103-102 lead with 26.3 seconds remaining. Denver’s Will Barton missed a 16-foot off-balance floater, and Taurean Prince grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Prince made both free throws to make it 105-102 with 6.8 seconds left.
Coach Kenny Atkinson said Irving will increase his individual on-court work and integrate him into practice in the next week or two.
Sunday’s performance gave Dinwiddie 20 or more points in 10 of his last 12 games.
The Nets have won 8 of their last 10 matchups, and have pulled three games above .500. Sunday’s win put them four games behind the Boston Celtics for the Atlantic Division lead. They’re currently have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn will host Charlotte on Wednesday night in their next matchup.
— Michael Scotto
