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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DENVER (AP) – As three defenders converged, Shareef Abdur-Rahim
flipped up a hesitant shot that held historic – yet still humble –
potential for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
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| Posey |
The ball hit the rim once ... twice ... three times ... and then
a fourth before falling into a scrambling mess beneath the basket
as the horn sounded.
After an 98-97 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, the
Grizzlies have five chances left to get their franchise-record 23rd
victory before closing their six-year history in Vancouver. The
team has applied to move to Memphis next season.
"This has been a tough year all the way around," Abdur-Rahim
said.
Although their record is imminently better than Vancouver's
(22-55), the Nuggets can sympathize.
Injuries to leading scorer and rebounder Antonio McDyess and
assist leader Nick Van Exel have forced Denver (37-40) to improvise
in the season's final four weeks.
Without the captains, James Posey had 22 points and 11 rebounds
and Raef LaFrentz added 19 points as six players account for all of
the team's scoring.
"I thought we really missed Nick and Mac," Denver coach Dan
Issel said, "and we made this game a lot harder than we needed
to."
Robert Pack, filling in for Van Exel, had 10 points and 12
assists for the Nuggets, who went 14-for-24 from 3-point range
after taking just six shots from behind the arc in a 21-point loss
to San Antonio on Thursday.
Abdur-Rahim led Vancouver with 32 points, 13 coming on free
throws, and Mike Bibby had 17 points, 18 assists and eight
rebounds.
Abdur-Rahim scored 10 of Vancouver's final 12 points before his
short jumper over a triple-team bounced away.
"Oh, man, it was scary," Pack said. "It looked really good
because it hung up in the air for a long time."
Vancouver, which has lost nine straight road games and 19 of 23
overall, has three home games and two road games remaining. Four
are against teams with winning records.
"We're trying to win every game from here on out," Bibby said.
"We're not trying to break records."
Bibby gave Vancouver its only lead of the fourth when he hit a
3-pointer with 7:07 left, but Voshon Lenard responded with
back-to-back 3-pointers for Denver.
The Nuggets still led by five with 1:19 left before Abdur-Rahim
hit a 3-pointer. After Pack hit one of two free throws, Vancouver
pulled to 98-97 on Abdur-Rahim's driving dunk with 42.4 seconds to
go.
"It seemed like we could never pull away from them," Issel
said. "We were fortunate enough to keep a margin to keep them from
scoring and we were lucky they missed that last shot."
Pack missed a 3-pointer on Denver's next possession, and the
Grizzlies predictably gave it to Abdur-Rahim against Posey on the
right wing. George McCloud and Pack helped on defense, forcing
Abdur-Rahim to change his shot as he went into the air.
Several players scrambled for the rebound as time expired,
giving Denver its sixth straight victory over Vancouver.
"I was trying to get a good look at it," Abdur-Rahim said. "
I probably could have passed the ball back to somebody else for a
better shot than I did. I just tried to make a play to win the
game."
Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe didn't see the shot, but he still
didn't like it.
"I was looking at something else at that time," he said.
"That was not what we wanted for the last shot."
Game notes
The Grizzlies, who have applied to move to Memphis next
season, had no traveling media with the team. ... Denver C Kevin
Willis needs five points to tie James Worthy (16,320) for 64th on
the NBA's career scoring list. ... The Nuggets have failed to score
100 in 24 of 29 games. ... Vancouver fell to 7-32 on the road. ...
McCloud finished with 18 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting, and
Lenard added 14 as the only Denver reserve to score.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Denver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 102
Washington 100
Detroit 97
Charlotte 92
Phoenix 102
Cleveland 98
Utah 116
Dallas 103
Houston 110
Atlanta 97
Denver 98
Vancouver 97
San Antonio 93
LA Clippers 83
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