Warriors 94, Nuggets 89

DENVER (AP) The Golden State Warriors wanted to prove that the newspaper advertisements proclaiming the Denver Nuggets as the hardest working team in the NBA were wrong.

``We think we are as hard working a team in the league as there is,'' Golden State coach Eric Musselman said. ``So we took (the ads) personally.''

Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points and Golden State's reserves chipped in 56 as the Warriors handed the Nuggets their ninth straight loss, 94-89 Monday night.

``It was just important for our team, because our starters came out pretty flat,'' said Chris Mills who had seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. ``Coach went to the bench and needed us to produce because we definitely wanted to get this game.''

Reserves Earl Boykins and Chris Mills had 14 points each as the Warriors' bench outscored Denver's reserves by 26.

Golden State leading scorer Antawn Jamison was held to nine points on 2-for-5 shooting.

``The last three games, the starters, including Jamison, have had to really work hard at the defensive end, and tonight some other guys got an opportunity,'' Musselman said. ``We played some guys that were fresh and they came up with some big-time contributions.''

Juwan Howard led Denver with 29 points. Nene Hilario added 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Nuggets moved within a loss of matching their season-high losing streak.

``It hurts. It really hurt,'' Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said. ``We've lost 45 times now and it is like getting hit 45 times.''

Howard got the Nuggets to 88-84 with a jumper with 1:06 left, but Boykins and Bob Sura each made two free throws. Howard's jam closed the gap to 92-89, but Mills sealed it with two free throws with 10 seconds left.

Mills accounted for the first six points for the Warriors in the fourth quarter as they extended their lead to 81-68, but the Nuggets pulled back to 83-77 with 5:45 left on two free throws by Donnell Harvey and a three-point play by Howard.

Howard scored four points during an 8-0 run to start the second half that cut Golden State's lead to 52-46. Arenas ended the run with a 15-footer.

Jamison ended his scoring drought with two free throws with 9:04 left in the quarter and, he made his first field goal to put the Warriors up 60-50 with 6:42 left in the third.

Adonal Foyle began a 13-0 run with a three-point play as Golden State led 30-22 to start the second quarter. The Nuggets missed their first 10 shots before Rodney White tipped in his miss with 7:38 left.

``The second quarter was the key,'' Bzdelik said. ``We missed 16 shots in the paint and many of the 25 layups we missed on the night.''

The Nuggets made only 6-of-26 shots in the second quarter as Golden State took a 52-38 lead into halftime.

``Boykins and their bench did a great job,'' said Harvey, who finished with 10 points.< ^Notes:@ It was the second straight game Golden State held an opponent under 100 points after giving up 100 in its previous eight. ... Denver's Hilario glared at Mike Dunleavy and had to be restrained by teammates after a hard foul in the second quarter. ... Marcus Camby, who has missed 50 games with a variety of injuries, played in two straight games for just the second time this year. ... Denver is 1-26 when giving up at least 90 points.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)