DENVER -- Al Jefferson is pulling away in a big way from a slow, painful start to his season. Jefferson matched a season high with 35 points, including a key basket in the final seconds, and the Charlotte Bobcats hung on to beat the Denver Nuggets 101-98 on Wednesday night. It was the 10th consecutive game in which Jefferson has scored at least 20 points, an offensive flurry reflecting his improved health since missing nine of the Bobcats first 12 games this season because of a sprained right ankle. "It is all about staying healthy," Jefferson said. "I am 85 or 90 per cent right now. If I were 100 per cent, I could be very effective. I am working hard to get to 100 per cent." Jefferson looked awfully close to that in a game in which he also had 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double in his last 22 games. "He is scoring and then we are also scoring off him. His effect on his teammates is good," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. Gerald Henderson and Ramon Sessions each added 16 points for the Bobcats who beat the Nuggets in Denver for only the second time in eight games here. Randy Foye scored a season-high 33 points to lead Denver, which was without leading scorer Ty Lawson (left shoulder). His replacement, Nate Robinson, was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a left knee sprain, forcing Foye into the unfamiliar role of running the point. "Nate and Ty, they push the ball and do so many different things," Foye said. "I just tried to mimic some of the things that Ty does, just being aggressive, taking it to the basket and trying to make plays for everybody, picking my spots where I needed to score. "But we fouled a lot. We gave them the game. We got stops. They got offensive rebounds and we fouled them. We made some bonehead plays fouling them and just putting them on the free throw line. But well figure this out. Theres no quit in this team." Robinson was hurt in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket. He got up gingerly and continued playing but was forced to leave the game a short time later. He did not return and the Nuggets said Robinson was scheduled to undergo an MRI scan on Thursday to further evaluate the injury, which the team initially described as a sprain. Evan Fournier added 19 points for the Nuggets and Timofey Mozgov had 15. Up by one at the break, the Bobcats pulled into a 75-all tie heading into the fourth period on a pair of free throws by Sessions, helping to offset a 3-pointer by Fournier moments earlier. Jeffersons 6-foot jumper evened the score again, at 82-all, but Fournier connected on a jumper and, after a turnover by the Bobcats, Foye drained a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a five-point edge with 6:38 remaining. Foyes long jumper produced a final tie at 95-95 with 1:08 left. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made one of two free throws and, after Wilson Chandler missed a contested reverse layup, Jefferson sank a jumper for a 98-95 lead with 23.1 seconds remaining. Darrell Arthur made a 3-pointer with 10.7 seconds left to pull the Nuggets within 99-98, but after Henderson was fouled and made one of two free throws with 9 seconds remaining, the Bobcats defence turned away shots from up close by Fournier and Mozgov to help the Bobcats hang on. "It was a weird play at the end," Jefferson said. "The rebound (off Fourniers miss) got deflected in some kind of way. Mozgov got the ball and had a clean shot at a layup, but MKG (Kidd-Gilchrist) made a heck of a job to block it." Added Henderson: "Those are plays that win games." Leading by as many as 14 points early on, the Bobcats settled for a 53-52 halftime lead as the Nuggets outscored Charlotte 31-21 in the second quarter. Jefferson converted a three-point play to give Charlotte a 43-31 advantage with 5:47 remaining in the second, but Denver closed the period on a 21-10 run capped by Arthurs 20-jumper an instant before the first-half buzzer. NOTES: The Bobcats Ben Gordon missed the game because of illness. ... The Nuggets and Bobcats meet one more time this season on March 10 in Charlotte. ... Kemba Walker missed his fifth game for the Bobcats since spraining his left ankle Jan. 18 against Miami. The Bobcats are 3-2 in that span. ... Jefferson also scored 35 points against the New York Knicks on Jan. 14. ... Foyes previous high this season was 24 points on Jan. 9 against Oklahoma City. Swell Bottiglia Blanc . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner. Swell Italia . In his first game with Boston University, the 17-year-old Eichel picked up five assists as his Boston University Terriers thumped St. http://www.swellbottiglie.it/. Martin Reway and David Griger both recorded four points with a goal and three assists each. Mario Lunter, Daniel Gachulinec and Stanislav Horansky also scored for Slovakia (1-0). Dominik Kahun had both goals for Germany (0-2), who lost its opening match to Canada 7-2 on Thursday. Swell Bottle Italia . "It was a little weird looking over and seeing all the green uniforms," he said of his first game against the Boston Celtics. Swell Italia Offerte .C. -- LeBron James called comments on an audio recording of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "appalling" and said hes not sure if he would suit up for the remainder of the NBA playoffs if he played for the Clippers.MASON, Ohio -- Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka held off an upset bid by qualifier Vania King to pull out a 6-1, 7-6 (6) win Tuesday and advance to the third round of the Western & Southern Open. The second-ranked Azarenka rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second set to force the tiebreaker against the 140th-ranked American. Azarenka, who has been bothered by a lower back injury, won her first match since losing to Samantha Stosur in the finals of the Southern California Open two weeks ago. "I think the beginning of the second set wasnt very good for me," Azarenka said. "There were quite a few unforced errors and just really fast mistakes, which didnt happen in the first set." In mens second-round play, third-seeded David Ferreer edged 102nd-ranked Ryan Harrison 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4, Grigor Dimitrov defeated Brian Baker 6-3, 6-2 and John Isner downed Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4.dddddddddddd Varvara Lepchenko of the United States advanced with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta, and Jamie Hampton needed three sets to overcome Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Alize Cornet rallied past Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4. Sorana Cirstea, the 21st-ranked Romanian who lost to No. 1 Serena Williams in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday, withdrew from her first-round match against Yanina Wickmayer. Cirstea was replaced by Monica Niculescu. Gilles Simon was forced to retire because of a strained hip against Vasek Pospisil, who was leading 6-3, 1-1. ' ' '