Nuggets looking for answers after loss

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 2, 2006 at midnight

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SALT LAKE CITY - It's back to the pack for the Denver Nuggets.

Not long ago, the Nuggets looked primed to run away with the Northwest Division. They had a seven-game winning streak and it seemed only a matter of time before the team hoisted its first division title banner in 18 years.

Suddenly, matters have changed. The Nuggets have dropped four games in a row, the latest 103-90 Wednesday night to the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center.

It was an important win for Utah. The Jazz (22-24) moved into a virtual tie for second place in the Northwest with Minnesota (21-23), two games behind the Nuggets (25-23).

"I'm surprised by losing," Nuggets point guard Earl Boykins said of the skid. "They just beat our butt."

The Nuggets on Wednesday were without center Marcus Camby, who suffered a strained muscle in his left shoulder Tuesday at Sacramento but is expected back Saturday against Portland. Camby played in the previous three losses after missing 15 games because of a fractured right pinkie.

"The situation we're in, with the injuries and trying to refabricate a team's chemistry, we don't have that edge to make mistakes," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We just don't have that edge to make mistakes. . . . It seems like we've been doing something in every game that snowballs the momentum against us."

In the second half, the snowball was more like a glacier. The Nuggets were outscored 54-36 after leading 54-49 at halftime.

Frustration apparently has set in. After the game, Karl was asked by a reporter about Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin looking upset and heading straight to the locker room after he was removed from the game (with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left in the fourth quarter).

"I hope everybody's upset about getting their (butt) kicked," Karl said.

Martin left the locker room after the game without commenting.

The game was quite a contrast from Jan. 20, when Martin and others played great defense against Jazz forwards Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko, holding them to combined 7-for-26 shooting in the Nuggets' 113-83 win. The two combined to shoot 16-for-26 Wednesday, with Okur scoring 28 points and Kirilenko 21.

"I said to (to the team), 'How long are you going to go to school every day and a guy whips you every single day,' " Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of the previous loss to Denver. "Sometimes you have to stand up and fight."

Okur had 11 rebounds as the Jazz crushed the Nuggets 40-23 on the boards. Kirilenko had five blocks, two on Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, whom he helped frustrate into 8-for-22 shooting.

"(Utah) did a (great) job not letting me get into the flow of things, making me take jump shots and not getting easy baskets," said Anthony, who scored 20 points. "I think they took away our transition game."

The Jazz outscored the Nuggets 19-7 in fast-break points. In the second half, the margin was 11-2.

"They were a hungry team," Karl said. "More hungry than we were."

It's also a team that's back in the Northwest Division race.

ETC.: After Karl Malone's uniform number is retired March 23, Jazz owner Larry Miller will take a "closer look" at possibly retiring the No. 4 Adrian Dantley wore for the Jazz from 1979-86. Dantley, a Denver assistant coach, averaged a Jazz-record 29.6 points. "We've tried to stagger it where we let (John Stockton, whose jersey was retired last season) and Malone have their day," Miller said. "I think one of these days we'll have to talk to Adrian and see. . . . (People) think it's that I'm mad at him or something. That's not it. Only about half (his 15 seasons were) in a Jazz uniform. The only thing that I am doing that I didn't used to do is I'm taking a closer look at it." Said Dantley, "I don't even get into that. That was 20 years ago (he played for Utah)." . . . Camby was hurt when he went up for a tip late in Tuesday's game and hit the floor hard. "It's frustrating," Camby, replaced by Francisco Elson, said of being hurt again. "But it was a freak play. Nothing I could predict. Hopefully, I'll get over it and shoot for (playing Saturday)." Athletic trainer Jim Gillen called the injury "nothing significant" and Karl also expects Camby to play Saturday . . . Karl replaced Earl Watson at shooting guard with Greg Buckner to pair Watson more off the bench with fellow up-tempo guard Boykins. "It worked in the first half, but it didn't work in the second half," said Karl, whose Nuggets outscored the Jazz 27-15 in the second quarter with the two Earls playing at a good pace.

		FG	FT	Reb
DENVER	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Anthony	33:09	8-22	4-6	0-2	0	1	20
Martin	33:30	9-14	0-0	1-6	0	3	18
Elson	25:33	5-8	0-0	1-4	1	5	10
Miller	35:30	5-6	5-8	0-3	9	2	15
Buckner	27:11	2-4	2-2	0-0	2	3	8
Najera	28:50	2-6	0-0	2-5	0	2	4
Watson	25:44	3-7	0-0	0-1	7	2	8
Boykins	18:13	1-5	0-0	0-0	1	0	3
Kleiza	8:07	1-3	2-2	0-2	1	3	4
Hodge	4:13	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals	240	36-75	13-18	4-23	21	22	90

Percentages - FG .480, FT .722. Three-point goals - 5-10, .500 (Buckner 2-3, Watson 2-4, Boykins 1-2, Anthony 0-1). Team rebounds - 6. Team turnovers - 6 (10 pts.). Blocked shots - 1 (Martin). Turnovers - 5 (Boykins 2, Miller, Martin, Hodge). Steals - 9 (Elson 3, Martin 2, Anthony, Buckner, Najera, Kleiza). Technicals - Defensive Three Second, 7:56 first.

		FG	FT	Reb
UTAH	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Kirilenko	42:11	7-11	6-8	0-5	5	4	21
Okur	39:56	9-15	8-9	4-11	1	3	28
Collins	32:33	2-2	4-4	1-4	4	2	8
McLeod	30:36	7-12	2-4	0-6	4	3	18
Palacio	30:08	5-9	2-2	0-5	7	1	12
Williams	29:24	2-7	0-0	0-3	0	3	5
Harpring	19:09	5-7	1-1	0-0	1	4	11
Ostertag	3:34	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	0	0
Brown	5:52	0-3	0-0	2-3	1	1	0
Humphries	5:56	0-1	0-0	0-2	0	0	0
Owens	0:41	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	240	37-67	23-28	8-40	23	21	103

Percentages - FG .552, FT .821. Three-point goals - 6-14, .429 (McLeod 2-3, Okur 2-4, Kirilenko 1-2, Williams 1-2, Harpring 0-1, Brown 0-1, Palacio 0-1). Team rebounds - 10. Team turnovers - 15 (18 pts.). Blocked shots - 8 (Kirilenko 5, Okur 2, Collins). Turnovers - 14 (Palacio 4, Okur 3, Brown 2, Williams 2, Kirilenko, Harpring, Ostertag). Steals - 3 (Okur 2, McLeod). Technicals - None.