TORONTO — In a sea of Nuggets players that put up big numbers in a win over Toronto on Thursday night, Joffrey Lauvergne’s may have been easy to miss.
The center recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. But more than that, it was the first night he looked a lot more like himself since he has returned from lower-back pain.
“He gets 14 and 10 — and he only plays 24 minutes,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I was kind of (going back and forth) down the stretch: Should I put him back in or should I keep (Darrell Arthur)? And just when I was about to put Joffrey in the game, D.A. hits a jump shot.”
So Malone kept him in.
But Lauvergne showed the toughness and touch around the rim that earned him the starting center job coming out of training camp. He was 6-of-9 from the field, scoring all his points in the paint.
Lauvergne started at center for the first time since returning.
Foye defense. For the second night in a row, Malone praised Randy Foye for his defense. On Wednesday it was in helping to slow down Chicago guard Jimmy Butler. Thursday it was in helping stop Kyle Lowry (4-of-16, 16 points).
Foye’s most important stand came with 21 seconds left. Down three, the Raptors had the ball. Lowry drove, but Foye forced him to lose the ball out of bounds.
“I just tried to put my body on him, use my strength and use my height and make him take tough shots,” Foye said.
Footnotes. Kenneth Faried did not play in the game because of a sore left ankle. Arthur started in his place. … The Nuggets made 12 3-pointers and now are 3-0 when they make 10 or more threes. … The Nuggets hit all 18 of their free throws. Last time the Nuggets went perfect from the line was March 9, 2001, at Sacramento.
