DENVER DEFEATS GOLDEN STATE

Don Nelson and George Karl have coached nearly 4,000 NBA games between them, but the final seconds of Tuesday's game must have felt like a lifetime. Nelson thought his Warriors had the game won when J.R. Smith's 40-foot 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left was far short. Instead, Monta Ellis was called for a foul, Smith hit two free throws and the Nuggets escaped with a 123-122 win. "It's a tough game to referee," Karl said. "I'm just really happy. You've got to kind of steal a few now and then." Nelson felt the game was highway robbery. "Anytime you lose it's hard. You lose at the buzzer it's tough," he said. "That team deserved to win a game. Bad teams just don't get breaks. Let's face it, you just don't get breaks. That was our game." It certainly seemed that way when Ellis put the Warriors up a point with 15.2 seconds left. After Joey Graham missed a 3-pointer, the ball was tied up with 3 seconds left. Corey Maggette swatted the jump ball to halfcourt where Smith grabbed it and the Nuggets called a timeout with 1.4 seconds remaining. Kenyon Martin inbounded the ball to Smith, who turned, shot and drew contact, although he didn't know it at first. "I was walking to the locker room," he said. "I didn't think they were going to call it and then I saw the ref with his hand up. I was thankful he did call it." Smith, who has struggled from the line this year, calmly sank the first two and intentionally clanked the third. Golden State called a timeout with 0.1 seconds left but Martin swatted away the inbounds pass to seal the win.