Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

At full strength, Spurs blow by Nuggets

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 4, 2008 at 11 p.m.

Text size  
Nuggets guard J.R. Smith shoots against the Spurs on Thursday night. The 17-point loss was Denver's worse of the season.

Photo by Matt McClain / The Rocky

Nuggets guard J.R. Smith shoots against the Spurs on Thursday night. The 17-point loss was Denver's worse of the season.

Related Links

Related Stories

More Denver Nuggets

More stories »

This definitely was not Spurs Lite.

Two weeks ago, the Nuggets walloped a watered-down San Antonio outfit that was without guards Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

But Ginobili and Parker are back, and they showed the Nuggets on Thursday night that the Spurs still are an NBA force, routing Denver 108-91 at the Pepsi Center.

Parker led the Spurs with 22 points, and Ginobili and forward Tim Duncan each scored 21. Duncan also grabbed 12 rebounds, handed out seven assists and blocked five shots.

"You had a very angry team, and we're a happy team," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We probably didn't meet the competitive nature of the game until the second half."

Karl said the Nuggets (13-7) were too happy because of their recent hot play, because they walloped Toronto 132-93 on Tuesday and because they won 91-81 at San Antonio on Nov. 19. That's the game that made the Spurs angry.

"Our scouts were very worried about this game, psychologically," Karl said. "We tried to present it to the team (Thursday) morning. I think they listened, but I don't think they really listened."

The Nuggets got 16 points from forward Carmelo Anthony and 15 from guard J.R. Smith.

The Spurs were hot all night from the perimeter. They finished 9-of-26 on three-pointers, which isn't all that great. But they made a number of other jumpers and shot 50 percent overall.

The game was all but over when the Spurs (10-8) shot 55.8 percent in the first half to take a 61-41 lead. The Nuggets shot 39 percent.

The Nuggets never got closer than 13 points in the second half, as their record dropped to 12-4 since guard Chauncey Billups first suited up after being acquired Nov. 3 from Detroit. Billups struggled, shooting only 5-of-13 for 12 points.

"That was an ugly game," Billups said. "Games like that, you've got to wash them off in the shower and forget about them as soon as possible and worry about your next opponent. You've got to give them credit because they really did, they picked us apart.

"They just outplayed us all over the place."

It was Denver's worst loss of the season. The previous worst was a 104-94 setback Nov. 22 on the road against the Lakers.

"It was one of them nights," Anthony said. "You have them in an 82-game season. We're still in good place right now. Actually, we're in a great place."

But Anthony's health isn't. Anthony, who had seven turnovers, continues to be bothered by a right elbow contusion.

"I don't want to keep blaming it on that," said Anthony, who doesn't know if the elbow will bother him the rest of the season. "I'm still going out there playing. I don't want to keep blaming it on my elbow. I know it's messed up."

Ginobili played in his sixth game after missing the first 12 because of ankle surgery. Parker played in his fourth after missing nine because of a sprained ankle.

The Spurs led by as many as 24 points. Karl didn't use forward Kenyon Martin in the fourth quarter.

"I just thought we had to play small with them," Karl said. "That was my choice."

Words Karl used in describing the Nuggets were "arrogance," "cockiness" and "contentment."

But he admits some of that has been earned by their recent fine play.

The Spurs broke open the game in the second quarter by outscoring the Nuggets 31-15 for the 61-41 halftime lead.

One of the few bright spots in the first half for the Nuggets was forward Chris Andersen, who had been 0-of-10, hitting his first career three-pointer in his seventh season.

In the fourth quarter, the Nuggets got to 88-74 before the Spurs went on a 9-0 run to go up 97-74.

The Nuggets closed to 99-86 in the waning moments, but it was too late to mount a serious comeback.

The Nuggets were outrebounded 47-33. But Smith did grab 10 rebounds.

ETC.: Karl and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich joked before the game about Popovich, who owns an Oregon winery, having not given him any recent bottles of wine, which he once did before games. "The last time I sent you one, you said it was water," Popovich said to Karl. " 'You need something stronger. That's what you told me.' " . . . The Spurs were without forward Kurt Thomas, whose wife gave birth to a baby girl, and forward Ime Udoka, not with the team due to the flu.

Paul Willis

Comments

  • December 5, 2008

    9:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    olsonmt writes:

    Bruce Bowen is ruining basketball (one of many things). The flopping is getting out of control.

    San Antonio is a dynasty but there is are many reasons why people outside their fan base HATE to watch them play... non-stops whistles, flopping, whinning to the refs on every play, etc., etc. It's too bad they play like that because that team can SHOOT.

  • December 5, 2008

    9:29 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ccorrea writes:

    ~~~~~~~ START JR START JR START JR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • December 5, 2008

    10:04 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    The Nuggets were victims of poor leadership on and off the floor coupled with really bad officiating.

  • December 5, 2008

    12:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Squatch writes:

    I just dont get why the Nuggets this years and previous years feel they need to settle for 3 point shot once the get down by 6 or more points. The Spurs are successful since they take any points they get and dont settle for 3's.

  • December 5, 2008

    12:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jsppro1 writes:

    The Nuggets lost to Lakers, Hornets and Spurs, they beat a Rockets team without T-Mac. Are they really a team ready to contend? Again I ask, why is Carter playing major minutes? I like Karl however, I am beginning to question his coaching. What do you think about this rotation:

    PG. Billups back up, I mean back up Carter
    SG. Jones back-up JR
    SF. Melo, LK
    The Bigs. Martin, Nene, Anderson

    I cannot wait to see the Nuggets play Blazers and Jazz!!!

  • December 5, 2008

    2:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    anthony1979 writes:

    I don't understand why the officiating is always horrible during Nuggets/Spurs games...it really is HORRIBLE.

    I can't understand why anybody would be fans of such floppers. The entire team! I guess that's "smart" basketball...getting refs to call fouls when there are none so the defense has to soften.

    On another note, the Nuggets didn't lose because of poor officiating, they lost because Chauncey had 6 points going into the 4th quarter and Melo had more turnovers than rebounds.

    We will have better games, we beat the Celtics IN Boston remember??

  • December 5, 2008

    2:51 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    denversportsfan writes:

    Is there no team anyone hates more than the Spurs?! They really are a bunch of crying floppers.

    NBA refs are killing basketball. There is a fundamental problem with officiating when there is a widely known thing called the "make up call".

    Why didn't George go out and get himself a technical last night with the way things were going???

  • December 5, 2008

    6:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    NuggetsFan94 writes:

    I love the Spurs. I also loved Pistons when Chauncey was leading the team.
    I've been a Nuggets fan since 1994 because I live in this city, but those two teams are (or maybe I should say were) great basketball teams.

    The reason why Nuggets can't win over those elite teams is very very simple.
    Because we have NO OFFENSE.
    We never have had one since coach Karl took over.
    (At least, we have never succeeded to install one that works with us in the half-court.)

    Telling the players to move the ball or to move when you don't have the ball won't solve the problem, because, when you face those elite teams with darn good defenses, you can't move the ball as much as you want. That's what they do to you on their defense.
    The players are the ones that want to move the ball the most but it's just not possible.
    Then the consequence is to go in toward the basket forcefully or shoot bad shots over and over.

    That's why we need an offense.

    I'm sure everyone saw the difference between ours and the Spurs's offense.
    They have the complete system that utilizes Duncan and Parker. In addition, they utilize other 2 players from outside.

    Detroit had their own complete offensive system too. Ask Chauncey.

    People talk about San Antonio's and Detroit's and Boston's and Lakers' defense, but all of them still have the golden offensive schemes that the opponents are NEVER able to stop when they execute them correctly.

    We have to have some kind of half court offensive scheme that utilizes Chauncey, Neon, and Melo (actually Melo's useless until he gets his both arms back) and that is impossible for the opponents to beat.
    If you want, you can put J.R. in that axis in place for Chancey.

    Then we can put the second unit to run the running game lead by Anthony Carter to change the tempo. Because it must be more difficult to practice set offenses with the unsettled reserves.