ORLANDO, Fla. — Danilo Gallinari scored 40 points and five teammates reached double figures as the Denver Nuggets routed the Orlando Magic 119-100.
Guard Jameer Nelson, who played eight seasons in Orlando, had 15 points and five assists for the Nuggets, who stopped a three-game losing streak. Forward Kenneth Faried, center Jusuf Nurkic, swingman JJ Hickson and guard Will Barton scored 11 points each for Denver.
Orlando put five players in double figures, led by guard Victor Oladipo’s 21 points, but the Magic weren’t competitive after the first quarter. Center Nik Vucevic had 20 points and eight rebounds, forward Andrew Nicholson had 13 points, guard Willie Green 11 and forward Kyle O’Quinn 10.
Orlando lost seven of its last eight games.
Gallinari was all the offense Denver had the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring 13 of his team’s first 21 points. He finished the first half with 18 points, but it was Nelson who provided the spark that made the game a runaway.
Nelson scored eight straight points in the final 1:17 of the first quarter and added two assists as the Nuggets finished off a 20-4 run in the first two minutes of the second quarter. That gave Denver a 40-29 lead, but Nelson was just getting started.
The ex-Magic star hit two more 3-pointers and handed out three more assists as Denver rolled through an uninterested Magic defense like it was a clinic. The Nuggets hit 14 of 26 shots in the second quarter, scored 14 points off eight Magic turnovers and used a 20-2 run through the middle of the quarter to seize control of the game.
When Nelson drove right through the heart of the Orlando defense for an uncontested layup, it pushed the Nuggets lead to 60-35 and the Magic finally did something to stop him. They called a timeout.
Vucevic and Green did what they could to revive the Magic the final four minutes, helping Orlando close the quarter on a 16-9 run that cut the halftime deficit to 69-51. Vucevic had eight points and Green added a couple of 3-pointers to give the team a faint hope of making it a game.
Unfortunately, the Magic still couldn’t find anyone to guard Gallinari and the 6-foot-10 veteran from Italy made them pay for it. He scored 14 points in the third quarter, all from the perimeter, as Denver pounded the Magic inside and out. The Nuggets had a five-possession sequence that included four dunks and an uncontested layup that helped Denver push its lead to 102-72 by the end of the period.
NOTES: Orlando PF Andrew Nicholson got his first start of the season in place of Channing Frye, who missed the game with an undisclosed illness. … Denver is scoring 104.5 points a game since Hunt took over. … Magic rookie PG Elfrid Payton, who had triple doubles in his last two games, is the only player in franchise history with back-to-back triple doubles. … Oscar Robertson is the only rookie to have three straight triple doubles. He actually put together seven straight in 1961. … Nuggets PG Jameer Nelson, who played eight seasons for the Magic, is on his third team visiting Orlando this season. Nelson also wore Mavericks and Celtics uniforms in visits to Orlando this season. … Magic SF Tobias Harris missed his third straight game with an ankle sprain.