Hornets Sting Nuggets 109-87

March 16, 1998 / 11:03 PM EST / CBS/AP

The Denver Nuggets returned to form Monday night. So did the Charlotte Hornets.

Charlotte ended Denver's season-best, two-game winning streak by holding the Nuggets to a combined 11 field goals in the second and third quarters and rolling to a 109-87 victory.
"It was a big game for us to win just because we were coming off a loss," Glen Rice said after scoring 17 points for the Hornets, whose franchise-record, 10-game winning streak was snapped by Washington on Saturday.

Matt Geiger added 18 points and 14 rebounds and Dell Curry had 18 points to help Charlotte end the Nuggets' bid for their first three-game winning streak since December 1996.

"Our mental effort was not where it should have been," Denver coach Bill Hanzlik said. "I thought we had a chance in the first half, but we didn't get the job done. We got into a little foul trouble in the second quarter, then gave up after that."

Denver (7-59) fell to 1-32 on the road and remained on course to eclipse the worst record in NBA history, the 9-73 mark set 25 years ago by the Philadelphia 76ers.

"There were some stretches of good basketball," Hanzlik said. "But there also were stretches that were terrible."

Anthony Mason, who leads the Hornets with 28 double-doubles, missed his first game all season, sitting this one out to rest a sprained right ankle, and Rice, bothered by flu-like symptoms, sat out the last 13 minutes. But Charlotte (41-24) still had enough weapons to secure at least a .500 record for the sixth consecutive season.

The Hornets had a 51-34 rebounding advantage, outshot Denver 48 percent to 44 percent and harassed the Nuggets into 23 turnovers.

"The game was a little raggedy, but we'll take it," said Charlotte coach Dave Cowens, who didn't use any of his starters for more than 33 minutes. "We used a lot of different combinations, and it was good to give some guys a lot of minutes. The guys that needed minutes got minutes, and the guys that needed rest got rest."

Johnny Newman had 17 points for Denver, which was held below the 100-point mark for the 19th consecutive game and lost its 10th in a row on the road. The Nuggets, who started a four-game road trip Monday night, got their lone victory away from home this season on Jan. 24 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Denver's Bryant Stith sat out his third consecutive game with a sprained right ankle, but the Nuggets did get rookie guard Bobby Jackson back after a 13-game stay on the injured list with a broken right ring finger. Jackson played 23 minutes and had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and a game-high five turnovers.

"I was a little bit rusty. I'm tired. My legs got heavy after about two minutes, but I'll be OK, and hopefully we will, too," Jackon said. "We've just got to keep playing hard and try to get three more wins so we won't be labeled as the worst team in NBA history."

Charlotte held the Nuggets to 25 percent shooting in the second quarter and 37 percent in the third, outscoring Denver 51-32 in that span.

Ahead 75-57 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Hornets pushed their lead to 25 less than four minutes into the period before both coaches began emptying their benches.

Notes: The Hornets have scored at least 100 points in their last seven games against Denver and have won all seven. ... The Nuggets cleared a roster spot for Jackson by placing Harold Ellis on the injured list with patella tendinitis in his right knee. ... Charlotte improved to 37-1 when tied or leading after three quarters. ... The Hornets' rebound total was one short of their season high.