Denver, CO (My Sportsbook) - The New Jersey Nets started their five-game road trip with three straight losses, and now they can close it with two straight wins with a victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night at Pepsi Center.

The Nets are coming off an 89-83 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Kenyon Martin finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Kerry Kittles finished with 17 points in the victory.

New Jersey was definitely cranky after dropping road games to Utah, Sacramento and Golden State.

"We had a chip on our shoulders tonight and wanted to prove to ourselves and to everyone else that we can beat any team in this league," New Jersey coach Byron Scott said.

"We played 48 minutes of good, solid basketball and defensively we didn't allow them to get big-time runs. We defended."

The Nets are 10-12 on the road and have a 10-8 mark against teams from the Western Conference.

Kittles is expected to miss Monday's game because of personal reasons, while Lucious Harris, who missed the last two games with a calf injury, is probable.

Denver has lost four straight and is coming off an 88-75 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Juwan Howard led the Nuggets with 15 points, while Nene Hilario added 14 points and 10 rebounds to the losing effort.

The Nuggets scored 27 points in the first quarter but were limited to 48 points the rest of the way. Denver missed 38 of 60 shots over the final three quarters.

"It seems to be our pattern, we play very well to a certain point and then we melt," Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said.

The Nuggets average an NBA-low 80 points per game, and have averaged only 33 second-half points in their last four games.

"We have to learn to win the game in the second half, too - we can't not finish the second half," said Howard.

Denver is 7-14 at home and has a 3-13 mark against teams from the Eastern Conference.

New Jersey captured the first meeting of the season 99-79 on November 18 at Continental Airlines Arena.