Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - J.R. Smith netted 24 points and Gary Forbes chipped in 22, as the Nuggets outlasted the Clippers, 108-104, in preseason play.
Arron Afflalo scored 18 points for Denver, which received 17 points and seven assists from Ty Lawson and 14 points from Shelden Williams.
Brian Cook led all scorers with 28 points, while Randy Foye and Al-Farouq Aminu donated 19 and 15 points, respectively, for Los Angeles.
Blake Griffin was held out of tonight's game as a precaution after tweaking his knee against the Utah Jazz Saturday night, but he is expected to play Tuesday, per the Associated Press:
``I was kind of thinking about giving him the night off, anyway, but this made my decision much easier,'' new coach Vinny Del Negro said. ``He's fine, but we just want to be smart. He actually feels a lot better right now. If it was the regular season, he'd play. I expect he'll play Tuesday, unless something come up in the next 48 hours that I don't know about.''
The Clippers play their final preseason game Tuesday night, when they host the Sacramento Kings.