DENVER ? On a night when the Denver Nuggets hosted a get-together for some of the greatest players in franchise history, Nick Van Exel put on a show that would have been the envy of any of them in their heyday.

The likes of Kiki Vandeweghe, Dan Issel, Fat Lever, Walt Davis and Calvin Natt ? all among the 18,634 in attendance Thursday at the Pepsi Center ? had plenty of big games in their day, but not many as impressive as Van Exel's 44-point outing.

There was only one drawback, albeit a major one. Despite Van Exel tying his career high for scoring, the Nuggets blew a 15-point lead and dropped their home opener, 102-101, to the defending Central Division champion Milwaukee Bucks.