The return of Kevin Love from his hand injury was a well-kept secret until most of us had set our daily lineups. As far as we knew, he’d been through a walkaround but was at least another week away. Rust was no problem, as Love scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but his teammates were reduced to spectators. Nikola Pekovic (ankle) had a relatively quiet 10 points and 7 rebounds, but missed only two games and may not be 100% sound just yet. J.J. Barea also returned from a sore ankle and had 12 points off the bench, but Malcolm Lee (2 PTS in 24:36) started again at SG, so Alexey Shved (8 PTS in 20:43) had his minutes reduced.
Danilo Gallinari (19) led a balanced Nuggets attack, with Ty Lawson (18 PTS, 9 AST) and Andre Iguodala (18 PTS, 9 REB) making solid contributions. Andre Miller scored all 11 of his points in the decisive fourth-quarter rally, as coach George Karl went to a small lineup.
Other November 21 Games
SAS @ BOS: The Spurs got 26 points from Tony Parker and 20 (plus 15 REB) from Tim Duncan to hand the Celtics a home defeat. Gary Neal (12 PTS) took over as the starting SG, with Danny Green (10) moving to SF, and Tiago Splitter had a huge game off the bench, scoring 23 on 9-of-11 shooting.
Rajon Rondo (22 PTS, 15 AST) was stellar for Boston but Paul Pierce, despite scoring 19 in 36 minutes, may have been bothered by that nagging sore ankle. Brandon Bass (16 PTS, 6 REB) has put some distance between himself and rookie Jared Sullinger in the PF timeshare; Jeff Green continues to disappoint those of us who drafted him based on a couple of hot preseason games.
LAC @ OKC: It required overtime, as the Clippers never gave up, but the Thunder pulled out the win behind Kevin Durant (35 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 5 STL) and Russell Westbrook (23 PTS, 9 AST). What doesn’t show up in a box score is the work Thabo Sefolosha did hounding Chris Paul, who missed 12 of 14 shots to finish with nine points. Blake Griffin led L.A. with 23, and Matt Barnes added 19 in a start at SF for Caron Butler, out with a shoulder injury. Sixth men Kevin Martin and Jamal Crawford each scored 20 in this terrific matchup.