DENVER - Forward Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 26 points, guard Ty Lawson had 16 points and 10 assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-95 after coach Brian Shaw was fired.
Forward Kenneth Faried had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Denver, which ended a six-game losing streak.
Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 11 rebounds and guard Khris Middleton had 20 points for the Bucks, who have lost five of six.
The Nuggets responded to Shaw’s firing with their first home win since beating Dallas on Jan. 14. Denver had lost 10 straight home games and 19 of 21 overall before Shaw was dismissed. The Nuggets were not competitive in their last six losses, four of which came at home.
The Denver front office planned to evaluate things after the season, but after averaging losses by nearly 20 points, the timetable moved up.
“It was a culmination of a ton of things,” general manager Tim Connolly said 30 minutes before Tuesday’s tip-off. “We thought given our recent lack of success, we thought it was time to be proactive.”
Assistant Melvin Hunt was named the interim head coach, and he struck a positive chord before his first game as the lead man.
“We are going to start that fire and find ways to stir it up a little,” he said. “I’m excited about the challenge.”
The change worked at the start of the game. Denver came out strong, scoring the first eight points and leading 20-9 midway through the first quarter. Milwaukee rallied to take a seven-point lead in the second but the Nuggets ended the half on a 15-4 run to take a 55-51 lead at the break.
They increased the lead by a point after three quarters, and guard Jameer Nelson scored the first five points of the fourth to make it 81-70.
Denver 106, Milwaukee 95
MILWAUKEE Middleton 6-20 5-5 20, Antetokounmpo 7-10 4-6 19, Carter-Williams 4-11 2-4 11, Ilyasova 9-15 0-0 21, Pachulia 0-1 0-0 2, Henson 4-7 2-5 10, Bayless 2-8 2-2 7, Dudley 1-6 0-0 2, T.Ennis 2-6 0-0 5, Mi.Plumlee 0-2 0-0 2
Totals 35-86 15-22 95
DENVER Gallinari 8-16 6-6 26, Faried 5-10 4-5 14, Lawson 6-12 2-2 16, W.Chandler 5-12 0-0 12, Foye 3-9 0-0 9, Barton 0-2 2-5 4, Hickson 3-9 0-0 6, Nelson 4-7 1-1 9, Arthur 4-5 0-0 8, E.Green 1-2 1-1 4, G.Harris 0-2 0-0 1
Totals 39-86 16-20 106
Milwaukee 29 22 19 25 - 95
Denver 29 26 21 30 - 106
A-12,234
