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DENVER - The Denver Nuggets were struggling and scuffling when they left for the road a week ago. Jake Ryan Jersey . Five games later they look like the team coach Brian Shaw envisioned.Kenneth Faried and Arron Afflalo scored 19 points each, Wilson Chandler had 18 and Denver beat the New Orleans Pelicans 117-97 on Friday night.Danilo Gallinari had 17 points and JaVale McGee 14 for the Nuggets, who have won four of their last five after starting the season 1-6. They took two of three on the road last weekend and have won two straight at Pepsi Center to even their home record at 3-3.We still have a long way to go, Shaw said. It took longer than we would have liked but its nice to see it coming together.Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 18 points and nine rebounds. It was the first time in eight games Davis has failed to eclipse 20 points.We just have to move on, Davis said. Youre going to have games like this.Davis looked like he was going to have a big night when he scored 10 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans led by 14-2 in the first four minutes, but a timeout by Shaw and a threat to bring in the bench got the starters motivated.We started playing a little defence, got the lead back and control of the game, guard Ty Lawson said. We all knew it was being lazy. Just gave the extra effort and it got better.Denver rallied to tie it at 18-all midway through the first. The Nuggets used an 11-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to take a 37-26 lead.They never trailed again.The advantage grew to 50-34 on two free throws by Gallinari. Jrue Holidays 3-pointer got New Orleans within nine late in the second but the Nuggets led 59-49 at halftime.Gallinaris 17 points were a season high for the forward, who is coming off two ACL surgeries on his left knee.If you dont play basketball for 19 months, trust me, its not easy to come back, he said. You think it is but it is not.The Pelicans got within eight in the third quarter but Denver began to pull away behind Chandler. He scored six straight points, including a 3-pointer with 8:46 left, to put the Nuggets ahead 98-77.We have an identity, New Orleans coach Monty Williams said. When we stray away from that, we get this result.McGee had three dunks and Nate Robinson hit another 3-pointer to put Denver up 107-83 midway through the fourth.___GOOD LUCK SMOOCHMcGee gave the crowd a laugh when he fell into the courtside seats trying to save a ball in the second quarter. Before he got up he planted a kiss on a female fan.Thats my Buddha, McGee said. I dont know her name but thats my Buddha.SCUFFED PAINTNew Orleans came into Fridays game leading the NBA in points in the paint but was outscored 52-32 in the lane.They got all the 50-50 balls, Davis said. They turned them into a layup or a dunk or a three. Something good for them.TIP INSPelicans: Center Omer Asik re-aggravated his back during warm-ups and was a late scratch from the lineup. He has now missed three straight games with the injury. ... New Orleans is averaging an NBA-low 10.9 turnovers a game. In Tuesdays win over Sacramento, the Pelicans had a season-low six turnovers. They had eight in the first 15 minutes against Denver and didnt have another for 12 minutes. They finished with 13, one off their season high.Nuggets: The Nuggets entered Friday averaging just 13.8 turnovers a game. That would stand as the best in franchise history for a full season. They had 10 against New Orleans. ... In Denvers four wins before Friday, Chandler was averaging 13.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. ... Lawson is fifth on the franchise list in assists. He trails Michael Adams by 57 for fourth. ... Eight players played 20 or more minutes for Denver.UP NEXTBulls: At Utah on Saturday night.Nuggets: At L.A. Lakers on Sunday night. Clay Matthews Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Kyle Murphy Jersey .J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Kevin-King-Packers-Jersey/ . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist.Staring down a six-game stretch heading into the Olympic break, the Maple Leafs gathered as a group and discussed the importance of yielding as many points as possible out of a pair of match-ups with the Panthers and Lightning as well as games against the Senators and Canucks. Already with four wins out of five, a victory on Saturday night against Vancouver would make it mission accomplished. "We want to end this part of the year off on a winning note," said Dion Phaneuf after the team took part in an off-ice workout on Friday. "We talked about it two weeks ago, how we wanted to get as many points as possible to set ourselves up going into the break in a good position." Despite the Leafs rolling to a 10-2-1 record in their last 13 games, a playoff position is still far from secured though. On Jan. 12, the day they beat the Devils 3-2 in a shootout to begin this impressive stretch, the Leafs sat two points out of a Wild Card spot. As of Feb. 7, they sit with a five-point Wild Card cushion and have gained ten points on the Montreal Canadiens to draw even at 68 points. Though still with 23 games remaining, Toronto is nowhere close to a position where they can ease up on their effort. "I dont think any team wants to give away any points," said Carl Gunnarsson. "Were in kind of a tight spot too. We really need the points." So too do the Canucks who have struggled mightily of late, losing six straight games and posting a dismal 4-12-2 record since the turn of the calendar to see their six-point Wild Card cushion evaporate to just one. That doesnt, however, mean the Leafs are taking anything for granted. "When youre playing a team that hasnt had as much success as theyd like, theyre going to want to end their pre-Olyympic break on the right note," Phaneuf said. Blake Martinez Jersey. "Were expecting a push out of them." How hard the Canucks can push though is the question, since they are missing Henrik Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev, Andrew Alberts, Mike Santorelli and Yannick Weber to various injuries and ailments. "Quite honestly, Ive never been through so many injuries at one time in all the years that Ive coached," said head coach John Tortorella after putting his team through practice at the MasterCard Center on Friday. "I dont want to paint this as Woe is me and were getting all the bad breaks, we have to find a way to get out of it. I think we have in the past three games regained our structure and hopefully itll get things going our way tomorrow." Outscored 23-10 during their six-game skid, an inspired performance from both Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo would be most welcomed by the Canucks. Sedin has not scored in 2014 and has just five assists in the 18 games he has played since the turn of the calendar. Luongo meanwhile has lost his last four starts, posting an ugly 3.50 GAA and .881 save percentage. With their playoff cushion all but evaporated, the Canucks no longer have time to slowly work their way out of this slump. They need points, and fast. "I think a win is the top priority," Luongo insisted. "I dont want to sit here and make excuses, injuries are part of every team in the NHL, and everybody goes through it. You still have to find a way to accumulate points. That being said, were missing a lot of guys but sometimes its little things and then all of a sudden it snowballs into bigger things and next thing you know, you dont realize it but youre in a six-game losing streak." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '