Nuggets suffer a bad turn

Anthony sprains his left ankle; Carter's floor show upsets Karl

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 29, 2005 at midnight

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After the game, George Karl was fuming at the way Vince Carter hit the floor. But that could end up paling in comparison to what happened when Carmelo Anthony hit the floor.

Anthony, a Denver Nuggets forward, suffered a sprained left ankle in the first 2 minutes Monday night at the Pepsi Center and was lost for the remainder of the game. The shocked Nuggets proceeded to fall behind by 22 points in the first half before losing against the New Jersey Nets 101-92.

X-rays were negative on Anthony, but he will have a magnetic resonance imaging exam today. Karl, the Nuggets coach, is hopeful no serious damage will be found and it "probably will be a game, maybe two or three" that Anthony will miss.

Karl was most displeased with the officiating. He was incensed about two calls on forward Kenyon Martin in the final 2 minutes not long after the Nuggets had cut the deficit to five points.

"To let Vince Carter flop two calls and get the whistle to end that game, I was disappointed because the effort and energy of (the Nuggets) I thought should have been stood up for," Karl said. "Vince Carter flopped both of them and got the call. There was a rumor out of the league office that we're trying to take flopping out of the game, but I don't think that was orchestrated in those two calls."

The Nuggets had cut the deficit to 88-83 with 3 minutes, 25 seconds to play when Martin, who scored a season-most 26 points against his former team, made 1 of 2 free throws. The Nuggets were down 91-85 with 1:31 to play when Martin was called for the first of two fouls that upset Karl.

Carter made two free throws. With 1:05 to play and the Nuggets trailing 93-87, Martin was called for another foul on Carter.

Martin got two technicals and an ejection, and Karl received a technical. Carter, who scored 25 points, then made five consecutive free throws to cement the win.

"I ain't got no comment on that, man, unless you going to pay my fine," Martin said of the ejection.

Martin's performance was encouraging for the Nuggets considering he had missed five games earlier this month because of a sore left knee. But there wasn't a lot else the Nuggets found encouraging.

They shot 30 of 47 (.638) from the free-throw line. There was a stretch in the second half when they made 1 of 2 on seven consecutive trips to the foul line.

"We struggled," said forward Linas Kleiza, who shot 2 of 4 during that stretch. "We got to get back in the gym and work on it."

It remains to be seen when Anthony next will be in the gym. With 10:51 to play in the first quarter, he stepped on the foot of Nets center Nenad Krstic on a drive and crumbled to the floor.

After a few minutes, Anthony was helped up and was led to the locker room. But he soon turned around and came back.

Anthony made two free throws and appeared fine. But on the next possession, his ankle was hurting noticeably and he left the game for good with 10:30 to play in the first quarter after scoring two points.

"It was just different, especially when Melo got hurt," center Marcus Camby said. "We've been playing well with guys out of the lineup, but I think that deflated us a little bit."

Anthony left the arena after the game ended, and Nuggets general manager Kiki Vande- weghe said Anthony was "disappointed." Vandeweghe and athletic trainer Jim Gillen wouldn't speculate how long Anthony might be out.

Without Anthony, who missed five games last season because of a sprained left ankle, the Nuggets fell behind 43-21 in the second quarter and were down 55-40 at halftime.

The Nets shot 7 of 14 on three-pointers in the first half. Forward Richard Jefferson, who scored 24 points, made 3 of 4. They shot 1 of 8 in the second half, but the damage was done.

"We only played half a game," Karl said.

Entering Monday, Karl had won 25 of 26 regular-season home games as Nuggets coach, including the past 18. The Nuggets' only previous home loss this season came when Karl was suspended.

Trying to bring back the Nuggets was reserve point guard Earl Boykins, who scored 24 points. But starting point guard Andre Miller had a frustrating game, shooting 0 of 10, although he nearly had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

The shots weren't falling for Miller. But of most concern for the Nuggets was the fall Anthony took.

		FG	FT	Reb
N.J.	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Jefferson	35:57	9-14	3-6	1-6	4	4	24
Collins	29:03	4-8	2-2	2-6	1	4	10
Krstic	29:28	1-4	0-2	1-2	5	4	2
Kidd	39:39	5-11	3-4	0-8	5	3	13
Carter	29:21	6-13	10-11	1-6	2	5	25
McInnis	26:34	4-11	4-6	2-3	3	1	12
Robinson	25:59	2-6	2-2	1-7	3	1	7
Planinic	4:09	1-3	0-0	0-0	1	2	2
Murray	4:58	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	0	3
Jackson	7:01	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
Padgett	3:24	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Vaughn	4:29	1-1	1-2	0-1	0	2	3
Totals	240:02	34-74	25-35	8-39	26	27	101

Percentages - FG .459, FT .714. Three-point goals - 8-22, .364 (Jefferson 3-4, Carter 3-5, Murray 1-2, Robinson 1-3, Collins 0-1, McInnis 0-1, Kidd 0-6). Team rebounds - 11. Team turnovers - 16 (20 pts.). Blocked shots - 2 (Kidd, Carter). Turnovers - 16 (Jefferson 6, Kidd 5, McInnis 2, Carter, Collins, Robinson). Steals - 7 (Kidd 2, Carter, Collins, Jefferson, Krstic, McInnis). Technicals - None.

		FG	FT	Reb
DENVER	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Martin	26:30	10-17	6-9	5-7	0	4	26
Anthony	1:30	0-1	2-2	0-0	0	0	2
Camby	35:24	4-12	2-4	4-10	0	2	10
DJohnson	12:55	1-3	2-2	1-3	1	0	4
Miller	40:46	0-10	10-12	6-10	9	4	10
Buckner	30:21	1-3	0-0	0-6	1	4	2
Boykins	35:46	8-18	4-7	0-4	3	3	24
Najera	16:44	1-3	0-0	2-5	1	2	2
Watson	6:34	0-1	0-2	0-1	1	0	0
Elson	5:26	1-2	0-0	1-1	0	1	2
Lenard	17:13	1-5	2-5	0-2	0	0	4
Kleiza	10:52	2-2	2-4	0-1	0	4	6
Totals	240:01	29-77	30-47	19-50	16	24	92

Percentages - FG .377, FT .638. Three-point goals - 4-16, .250 (Boykins 4-9, Watson 0-1, Lenard 0-2, Buckner 0-2, D. Johnson 0-2). Team rebounds - 15. Team turnovers - 15 (18 pts.). Blocked shots - 5 (Camby, Anthony, Miller, D. Johnson, Kleiza). Turnovers - 14 (Camby 3, Boykins 3, Lenard 2, Miller 2, Elson, Buckner, Najera, Watson). Steals - 14 (Miller 6, Camby 4, Lenard 2, Martin, D. Johnson). Technicals - Defensive three second, 8:52 third; Camby, 7:49 third; Martin 2, 1:05 fourth; coach Karl, 1:05 fourth. Ejected - Martin, 1:05 fourth.