DENVER (AP) — Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 21 points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 91-86 on Monday night.

Al Harrington added 17 points and Ty Lawson 16 for the Nuggets, who were playing their third game in as many nights.

Stephen Jackson led Milwaukee with 17 points. Carlos Delfino added 14 for the Bucks, who were denied in a bid for a third consecutive win, which would have matched their season long from last season.

The Nuggets were without center-forward Nene, who sat out the game with a bruised left heel. Before the game, coach George Karl described Nene’s status as day to day.

Mike Dunleavy did not make the trip with the team, staying home because of an illness.

Delfino’s 3-pointer gave the Bucks a 74-68 lead heading into the fourth quarter and Andrew Bogut 10-foot hook shot put Milwaukee in front 81-76 with 8:31 left to play.

Gallinari, who also had 10 rebounds, then got the Nuggets going. He drove in for a layup and tipped in a shot as part of a 10-0 run that Harrington finished with successive dunks as Denver went in front 86-81 with 4:01 remaining.

Stephen Jackson made a 20-foot jumper pulling Milwaukee to within 87-86 with 1:55 remaining. Both sides missed jump shots before Lawson shook loose on a fast break and put in a layup with 10.9 seconds left for a three-point Nuggets’ lead.

Brandon Jennings missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with about seven seconds to go and the rebound went to Gallinari, who was immediately fouled. He made both free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining to secure the win.

Milwaukee took a 44-37 lead after a basket by Luc Mbah a Moute. Denver came back to score 11 of the next 15 points, including tip-in by Gallinari as time expired to even the score at 48-all at halftime.

Notes: The Bucks failed to score at least 50 points in the first half for the first time in four games this season. … The Nuggets finished their first back-to-back-to-back set of the NBA’s condensed season with a 2-1 mark. … Gallinari’s previous season high was 20 points, scored the night before in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Jennings scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 102-81 victory over the winless Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15 off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four turnovers.

Washington also was called for a technical foul when Roger Mason Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this season.

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the Wizards — starting with the technical.

Mason had checked in for Jordan Crawford with 3:27 mark left in the first quarter and he scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis.

Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18 Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks poured it on.

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s 34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first half.

Washington opened the second half on a 15-4 run, holding Milwaukee without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Wizards outscored the Bucks 26-13 in the period and trailed 78-67 after three quarters.

Crawford had 12 points in the third.

Washington cut it to nine on a dunk by JaVale McGee to open the fourth, but the Wizards got no closer the rest of the way. They cut it to 88-77 with less than six minutes remaining, but the Bucks — who had blown double-digit, second-half leads in each of their first two games — used an 8-0 run to seal it.

Notes: Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute missed his third straight game with right knee tendinitis. Mbah a Moute took part in the shootaround. “No idea,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said, when asked how long he will be out. “We thought he was going tonight.” . Bucks forward Tobias Harris, the team’s first-round pick in 2011, also has yet to play for Milwaukee with dehydration issues. . The Bucks assigned rookie guard Darington Hobson to the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. Hobson was the 37th overall pick in the 2010 draft out of New Mexico but missed the 2010-11 season after undergoing hip surgery.

“Right now we should really be 3-0,” Jennings said. “We were up at halftime against Charlotte, and we lost a lead. And tonight we were up (24) at half and let a team come back. That is something we really need to focus on, especially going on a West Coast road trip. On the road in hostile environments you have got to be able to contain the lead and take over.”

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four turnovers.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15 off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this season.

“He has been very efficient,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “He is doing a good job in the first half of the games of moving the ball around and seeing people and kind of taking his scoring opportunities as they come. And then as the game has gone on he’s gotten a little more aggressive, especially when we’ve struggled a little bit in those stretches.

“That’s what the good players do.”

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the Wizards – starting with a technical foul called when Roger Mason Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Mason had come in for Crawford with 3:27 left in the first quarter and scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis. Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18 Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks poured it on.

Wizards coach Flip Saunders took responsibility for Mason being disqualified from the game. The Wizards public relations staff also took the blame.

The NBA provides a roster to teams to circle who will be inactive for each game. The list excluded Mason’s name, and neither Saunders nor the PR staff caught the mistake before sending the final active roster to the league office.

The Bucks statistical staff noticed the mistake when they tried to enter Mason’s basket.

“It’s my fault,” Saunders said. “I didn’t notice it. I take responsibility for that. I thought he would have given us some help.”

Said Mason: “It was just human error. Just a mistake. It happens.”

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s 34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first half.

Brandon Jennings scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half
to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 102-81 victory over the winless
Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the
first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15
off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15
rebounds and three blocks.

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring
one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3)
with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and
four turnovers.

Washington also was called for a technical foul when Roger Mason
Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this
season.

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the
Wizards – starting with the technical.

Mason had checked in for Jordan Crawford with 3:27 mark left in
the first quarter and he scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds
later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were
whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from
Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis.

Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18
Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks
poured it on.

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to
take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal
percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s
34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first
half.

Washington opened the second half on a 15-4 run, holding
Milwaukee without a field goal for more than five minutes. The
Wizards outscored the Bucks 26-13 in the period and trailed 78-67
after three quarters.

Crawford had 12 points in the third.

Washington cut it to nine on a dunk by JaVale McGee to open the
fourth, but the Wizards got no closer the rest of the way. They cut
it to 88-77 with less than six minutes remaining, but the Bucks _
who had blown double-digit, second-half leads in each of their
first two games _ used an 8-0 run to seal it.

Notes: Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute missed his third straight
game with right knee tendinitis. Mbah a Moute took part in the
shootaround. “No idea,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said, when asked
how long he will be out. “We thought he was going tonight.” . Bucks
forward Tobias Harris, the team’s first-round pick in 2011, also
has yet to play for Milwaukee with dehydration issues. . The Bucks
assigned rookie guard Darington Hobson to the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad
Ants of the NBA Development League. Hobson was the 37th overall
pick in the 2010 draft out of New Mexico but missed the 2010-11
season after undergoing hip surgery.