DENVER — D.J. Augustin scored 22 of his season-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-107 on Wednesday night to mark Kobe Bryant’s last game in Denver.
Bryant, who announced he is retiring at the end of the season, his 20th, had his farewell cut short because of a sore right shoulder. He played 11 minutes in the first quarter but then took a seat for the rest of the game.
Emmanuel Mudiay had 22 points and seven assists and Gary Harris scored 16 for to lead the Nuggets (23-37) to their first home win since Feb. 5.
D’Angelo Russell scored 22 and Julius Randle had 18 for Los Angeles.
Bryant got a warm ovation during the pregame introductions and got more cheers when the large scoreboard showed a montage of his career at the first timeout of the game.
Bryant then hit his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer, with 4:40 left in the first quarter. He went 2-for-3 from the line before leaving with five points.
Fans started chanting “We want Kobe!” midway through the third quarter not knowing he had been ruled out for the rest of the game.
The scoreboard then showed Bryant sitting on the bench, tapping his shoulder, with a caption announcing he wouldn’t return.
The Lakers (12-50) also lost Jordan Clarkson to a strained left patellar tendon in the third quarter. With the additional absence of guard Lou Williams Los Angeles did not have its top three scorers in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss of that offense and playing on consecutive nights, the Lakers rallied to take an 88-85 lead on Nick Young’s 3-pointer early in the fourth.
Augustin turned things around for Denver. He hit two 3-pointers and had a steal to spark a 10-0 run that gave the Nuggets a 95-88 lead.
The Lakers got within 106-101 but Mudiay hit a jumper and Augustin converted a three-point play to push the lead to 10.
Augustin hit six straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
NOTES: Lakers G Lou Williams will miss about a week with a mild strain of his left hamstring. Williams suffered the injury in Tuesday night’s victory over Brooklyn. Los Angeles coach Byron Scott said he will spread the minutes between Gs Anthony Brown, Marcelo Huertas and Nick Young. … Nuggets F Kenneth Faried played with a sore lower back that had threatened to keep him out of the game. … Los Angeles G D’Angelo Russell is the youngest player in NBA history to make eight 3-pointers when he did it against the Nets on Tuesday. The 20-year-old finished with 39 points.