Nuggets' Harrington in mini-slump

In Sunday's homage to Doug Moe, the Nuggets won 1980s style — 138-133 — and everyone was making shots for Denver: J.R. Smith, Chauncey Billups, Nene, the usher in section 112, Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, the beer guy, Shelden Williams, Gary Forbes . . . everyone, it seemed, except Al Harrington.

The big fellow is struggling a little. The 6-foot-9 power forward is averaging 13.1 points per game, but he shot just 2-for-7 from the field against Phoenix. And in two of the previous three games, he had nights of 2-for-6 and 1-for-7. But he also had a 7-for-13, 19-point performance Nov. 22 at Golden State, where he was booed by his old fans.

Harrington finds motivation against spurned old squads. He scored 22 points in a Nov. 16 win against the Knicks.

"He's a game-changer for sure," Billups said. "He comes to play, and he's come to play really hard against the teams he's played for. He wants to beat them really badly. We've got to get him doing the same thing against everybody else.