Los Angeles Lakers' shooting guard Jodie Meeks (L) watches as Denver Nuggets small forward Kenneth Faried is fouled by power forward Ryan Kelly during their NBA game at at the Pepsi Center in Denver Friday. — Reuters DENVER — The Denver Nuggets took their head coach Brian Shaw's advice and tried to run up the score against the hapless Los Angeles Lakers late Friday at the Pepsi Center. While they didn't quite hit their lofty goal of 160 points, they still managed to manhandle the last-place Lakers 134-126, guaranteeing Los Angeles will suffer their first losing season since 2004-05 when Shaw was their assistant coach. “Coach said he wanted to score 40 a quarter, so he was pretty excited,” said Denver's Ty Lawson. “Actually, he was bummed because he said he wanted to get 160.” Shaw played four National Basketball Association seasons for the Lakers before becoming an assistant coach with the team in 2005. He left in 2011 to take an assistant coaching job with Indiana. “It's a win; we will take it,” said Shaw. Kenneth Faried tallied a season-high 32 points and Lawson had 30 points and 17 assists as they outgunned Los Angeles in front of a crowd of 18,248 at Pepsi Center arena. The Lakers loss comes just one day after they suffered their worst defeat in franchise history when they were clobbered 142-94 by the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. Pau Gasol scored 27 points on Friday for the Lakers. Los Angeles have given up at least 100 points in eight straight contests. In three consecutive losses, their opposition is averaging a staggering 136 points. Faried also had 13 rebounds for Denver, winners of two straight on the heels of six straight losses. Wilson Chandler added 19 points. Lawson became the first Denver player to score at least 30 points and 15 assists in a game since Allen Iverson bagged 44 points and 15 assists in 2007. Ryan Kelly and Jordan Farmar came off the bench to score 24 points each for Los Angeles. Raptors 99, Kings 87: Guard Terrence Ross showed no ill effects from a sprained left ankle that sidelined him from last Sunday's game, leading the Toronto Raptors to a comfortable win over the Sacramento Kings. Rudy Gay, in his first game in Toronto since his trade to the Kings in early December, was booed relentlessly as Toronto (34-26) improved to 27-14 since the trade. Bobcats 101, Cavaliers 92: Center Al Jefferson scored 28 points as the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jefferson hit eight of his first nine shots from the field as Cleveland succumbed to their third successive loss. Grizzlies 85, Bulls 77: Center Marc Gasol scored 18 points and the Memphis Grizzlies defense dominated down the stretch for victory over the Chicago Bulls. Other results: Timberwolves 114, Pistons 101; Pelicans 112, Bucks 104; Celtics 91, Nets 84; Knicks 108, Jazz 81; Mavericks 103, Trail Blazers 98; Rockets 112, Pacers 86; Warriors 111, Hawks 97. — Agencies
