DENVER -- Arron Afflalo saved the game and Ty Lawson wrapped it up. So much for the notion the Denver Nuggets dont have a reliable late-game closer. These days, they just may have two. Afflalo hit three free throws with 0.6 seconds left in regulation and Lawson made a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in overtime, allowing the Nuggets to rally for a 119-116 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings on Monday night. "I dont even know if I want to watch the film, because the film may say we lost," Nuggets coach George Karl said. Go ahead and view it. Afflalo made sure it had a rewarding finish. Afflalo finished with a career-high 32 points, but none bigger than his three free throws that helped the Nuggets pull out an improbable win and improve to 4-0 since the All-Star break. With time winding down in regulation, Afflalo launched a deep and desperate 3-point attempt that was well off the mark. But over the shrill of the final buzzer came the shriek of an officials whistle as Marcus Thornton was called for grazing Afflalos arm. The referees huddled for a second to make sure the foul happened before the final horn -- it did -- and then Afflalo calmly stepped up to the free throw line. Swish. Another swish. To break Afflalos rhythm for the final shot, the Kings called timeout. It hardly mattered as he swished the last one to tie the score at 108. "People dont understand, making three free throws in a row is very difficult," Karl said. Yet Afflalo made it appear easy simply by keeping his focus. "Im just thinking about making free throws. I wasnt thinking about nothing before or after," Afflalo explained. After that, it was Lawsons turn to step into the spotlight. The speedy point guard came up with a clutch basket for the second straight night. On the decisive play in overtime, Lawson dribbled up top to take time off the clock and then, fighting an urge to drive to the hoop, let go a 3-pointer that hardly touched any of the rim. "Ive become comfortable taking those shots at the end," said Lawson, who finished with 16 points and 13 assists. "I was working on that little pull-up shot during the break." Its definitely been effective. Lawson hit a similar one to lift the Nuggets over San Antonio the night before. "This game meant a lot for us," Lawson said. "To come back home on a back-to-back and (against) Sacramento -- everybody is thinking, Oh, we just will beat them. I think at one point we had no business winning. This was a big win." And a crushing blow for the Kings. Thornton and Tyreke Evans each had 27 points for the Kings, who dropped their fourth straight on the day they announced they had extended the contract of coach Keith Smart through the 2012-13 season. After the game, Thornton insisted he didnt touch Afflalo on the shot. Then, he took full responsibility. "Its on me. I cant do that. I take this loss. I have to be smarter," Thornton said. "Foul early on. Just stay down. I thought I did a good job of contesting. It didnt go that way. So, I take this loss." Smart took this loss as simply another step in the learning process for his young squad. "We are growing and moving in the right direction," Smart said. "It just came down to micro moments of management and we didnt come through at that time." Once a banged-up bunch, the Nuggets are steadily returning to health. Leading scorer Danilo Gallinari was back after missing 13 games with a left ankle sprain. So was Brazilian centre Nene, who sat out 10 games with a calf strain. Not surprisingly, Gallinari and Nene both showed some early rust from their long layoffs. Gallinari didnt hit his first basket until swishing a 3-pointer with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter. He had just four points on the evening. Nene finished with six points in just over 15 minutes. When Gallinari hobbled off the court on Feb. 6, it appeared as if he might be sidelined for quite some time after tests revealed a chip fracture in his left foot. But further examinations later showed the fracture wasnt caused by his stumble and may have actually occurred before he joined the NBA in 2008. The versatile Italian forward proved to be a fast healer, returning nearly to the day the team had predicted. The Nuggets were 6-7 without Gallinari, one of the players theyre counting on to deliver big shots at crunch time. But with the game on the line the healing Gallinari was on the bench, not the floor. Even with the return of Gallinari and Nene, the Nuggets are far from full strength. They were missing swingman Rudy Fernandez (back) and centre Kosta Koufos (left knee). However, Timofey Mozgov played Monday despite an ailing left ankle. He had eight early points before appearing to hurt his ankle again. Mozgov didnt play in the second half. Notes: Kings F J.J. Hickson missed the three-game road swing with a hip pointer. ... The Kings will begin a franchise-record nine-game homestand on Wednesday against New Orleans. ... Lawson was named the Western Conference player of the week Monday. ... The Nuggets are 13-3 against the Kings at home since 2003-04. ... Afflalos previous best performance was 31 against Phoenix last January. http://www.frsportchaussures.com/nike-roshe-run.html . Eakins, who has been with the Toronto Marlies since 2009 and has two years left on his three-year AHL deal, has received plenty of interest so far from the Canucks, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars, as well as the Edmonton Oilers for an associate coaching position. http://www.frsportchaussures.com/adidas-originals-superstar-2-0.html . At the start of this season, few knew where that spark would come from, and it looked worse after the Wildcats dropped their opening game against Temple. http://www.frsportchaussures.com/air-max-2015/air-max-2015-femme.html . Sharapova, currently second in the world rankings, was not in Fridays draw for the China Open beginning Saturday in Beijing. http://www.frsportchaussures.com/air-max-2015.html . Oswalt gets a US$2 million buyout instead of $16 million next season. Lidge receives a $1.5 million buyout instead of $12. http://www.frsportchaussures.com/nike-free/nike-free-5-0-v3-femme.html . On Saturday, he replaced Max Pacioretty on the Habs top line with David Desharnais and Erik Cole.BOSTON -- Mike Aviles wanted to take advantage of his second chance, even though he wasnt entirely sure he earned it. After an umpires mistake on what should have been the third strike, Aviles lined a single to centre to spark a three-run second inning that gave the Boston Red Sox the lead for good in a 7-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Monday. "I got another swing, got another hit, one run scored there and we ended up scoring two more right after that," Aviles said. "It helped us out, gave us momentum and we kept rolling from there." Felix Doubront pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Ryan Sweeney had three hits after being activated from the disabled list and Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for Boston. The victory was tainted by an injury to 2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia, who left in the fifth inning with a jammed right thumb. "Hell probably have some tests," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "Right now I dont think he could play tomorrow, if I was a betting man. But dont bet on it." Detroit played most of the game without manager Jim Leyland and third-base coach Gene Lamont, who were ejected after the umpires appeared to blow the call on Aviles foul tip. Leyland argued with the umpires until they tossed him from the game, then erupted in the visitors clubhouse after it was over. "There shouldnt have been a second-inning rally," he said, his voice rising. "There were three outs. Ive been in the game a long time. ... You guys need to write something and hold people accountable." With two outs and a runner on second, Aviles swung at what would have been strike three. It was ruled a foul tip by plate umpire Jeff Nelson, and on appeal to first base ump Bill Welke the ball was determined to hit the dirt before catcher Gerald Laird could glove it. Replays appeared to show a clean swing and miss by Aviles, and Laird clearly caught the ball before it could hit the ground, meaning Aviles should have been out. Aviles lined an RBI single to centre. Daniel Nava doubled him home and scored on Pedroias single to make it 4-1 before Adrian Gonzales hit an inning-ending groundout to first base. "Im pretty sure he caught it, but Im not sure," said Aviles, who hadnt seen the replay.dddddddddddd "The first thing I said was bounce. I didnt want to strike out. I dont know anybody that wants to strike out. I honestly dont know a hundred per cent but he might have caught it." Leyland came out to argue with third-base umpire Tim Tschida, joining an already angry Lamont. The manager had retreated to the dugout but was apparently still yelling at the crew when Welke tossed him. After making a "Who, me?" expression, Leyland came back onto the field to argue some more. In the visiting managers office afterward, Leyland held forth in a profane rant about holding everyone in the game accountable, asking reporters, "Was that a ridiculous call? Then write that it was a ridiculous ... call!" "Im not going to sit here and rip umpires," Leyland said, alternating between enraged and merely agitated. "Im the most protective person in the world of umpires. I protect them more than anybody in the game." Doubront (5-2) gave up home runs to Gerald Laird and Delmon Young and just a pair of singles. He struck out six and walked one. Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer in the ninth, and Doug Fister (0-3) allowed six runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings. Saltalamacchia, Aviles and David Ortiz all had two hits for Boston, which bounced back after blowing a ninth-inning lead against Tampa Bay on Sunday. The Red Sox scored one in the first and then three more in the second, taking advantage of a controversial call that led to the ejections. Boston added one more in the third on Saltalamacchias homer, then solo runs on Will Middlebrooks infield single in the sixth and Aviles RBI double in the eighth. Laird had two hits for the Tigers. NOTES: The Red Sox honoured former right fielder Trot Nixon before the game for his contributions to the 2004 team that ended the franchises 86-year championship drought. Nixon was presented with a No. 7 insert from the manual scoreboard and a mounted pine tar-stained helmet like the one he used to wear. ... Pedroia was hurt diving for Danny Worths grounder at the end of the fifth inning. He was replaced by Nick Punto. .. Sweeney was activated from the DL before the game and OF Che-Hsuan Lin was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '