Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

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

Melo scores 49 against Wizards

Career-best night paces Nuggets to an easy victory

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 9, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

Text size  

More Denver Nuggets

More stories »
Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony runs down the court after hitting a three-pointer in the first quarter of Denver's 111-100 victory against the Washington Wizards on Friday.

Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony runs down the court after hitting a three-pointer in the first quarter of Denver's 111-100 victory against the Washington Wizards on Friday.

Nuggets center Marcus Camby reaches over guard Anthony Carter to pull in one of his 17 rebounds against the Wizards on Friday night. Camby and Carter each had eight of Denver's 32 assists. The Nuggets' next home game will be Feb. 19 against the Celtics.

Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Nuggets center Marcus Camby reaches over guard Anthony Carter to pull in one of his 17 rebounds against the Wizards on Friday night. Camby and Carter each had eight of Denver's 32 assists. The Nuggets' next home game will be Feb. 19 against the Celtics.

Casey Kasem would be proud. It was another top 40 performance by the Nuggets.

Washington, though, was determined it wouldn’t be a verse of “50 ways to beat the Wizards.’’

Forward Carmelo Anthony became the third Denver player this season to get 40 in a game, scoring a career-high 49 to lead the Nuggets to a 111-100 win Friday night at the Pepsi Center. But he never got a shot off in attempt to become the second to get 50.

During Denver’s final two possessions, the Wizards threw double- and triple-teams at Anthony.

“I guess they didn’t want him to score 50, which is fine,’’ said Nuggets coach George Karl.

Washington coach Eddie Jordan was less nonchalant about the ending, when the Nuggets tried to get Anthony the ball, first to break his previous career-high of 45 and then to get 50.

“The end part of that game, I felt was a little bit on the classless side,’’ Jordan said. “But we all have our ways and when you get your butt kicked, the other team can do whatever it wants to do. But I thought it was very classless to close a game like that.’’

Karl said he wasn’t trying to show anybody up.

“I didn’t feel I should put my bench in,’’ Karl said. “I didn’t play my bench much all night… The players felt (they wanted) to give Melo an opportunity to get a career-high (previously 45). I think it’s a positive. I don’t think we embarrassed or tired to insult anybody…. They decided to double team and the end and I thought our guys did the right thing. Just let it go.’’

The game ended with the ball in the hands of Nuggets guard Allen Iverson. With an exasperated look on his face, Iverson dribbled out the clock rather than throw the ball to Anthony, who had two guys all over him before he even crossed halfcourt.

“I was definitely surprised about that,’’ said Iverson, who scored 51 points Dec. 5 against the Lakers while teammate Linas Kleiza had 41 Jan. 17 against Utah. “Because what for? Just to stop him from getting 50?’’

Still, Anthony had the greatest performance of his career. He shot 19-of-25, 3-of-3 from three-point range, and 8-of-8 from the foul line.

“I haven’t been in a zone like that in a long, long time,’’ Anthony said. “When I’m like that, I feel like anything I throw up there will go in.’’

Anthony topped his previous career high, set Dec. 27, 2005 against Philadelphia, when he hit a three-pointer with 1:24 left. That gave him 47 points, and the fans went crazy.

Anthony got to 49 on a pair of free throws with 1:04 left. But Washington double- and triple-teamed on the next possession, and Anthony stepped out of bounds with 28 seconds left.

“We weren’t trying to embarrass nobody out there,’’ Anthony said. “We’re still trying to win the basketball game. I don’t think it was classless.’’

The last time the Nuggets had three players score 40 or more points in a season was 1990-91. They were Michael Adams, Walter Davis and Orlando Woolridge.

Anthony scored 29 points in the first half, tying his career-high for points in a half. He had 29 in the second half against Houston on Dec. 26, 2003.

“The first couple of minutes I hit mostly all of my shots, so I knew it was going to be a good night,’’ Anthony said.

Also coming up big for the Nuggets was center Marcus Camby, who totaled 17 rebounds and eight assists.

The Nuggets (30-19) moved to within one game of Utah (32-19) in the Northwest Division. The Jazz lost 117-104 at Sacramento, ending its 10-game losing streak.

The Wizards played without injured stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, and lost guard Antonio Daniels for the night midway through the first quarter due to tendinitis in his right knee.

Iverson had 18 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets, who shot 56.4 percent and had 10 dunks.

Anthony scored 20 points as the Nuggets took a 30-16 first quarter lead. The Wizards got within four twice early in the second half before the Nuggets pulled away and the only drama became how many points Anthony would score.

“I’ve never had a teammate that went out and scored 49 points,’’ Iverson said. “This was one of the easiest games I have ever played.’’

ETC.: Nuggets center Steven Hunter did not dress out due to a sore right knee… Iverson’s career-high streak of eight straight games with three steals came to an end when he got none.

Nuggets 111, Wizards 100

FG FT Reb

WASH. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Blatche 33:34 7-10 0-0 6-10 0 4 14

Jamison 36:51 8-19 4-6 0-8 3 2 21

Haywood 19:23 3-6 1-1 1-2 1 2 7

Daniels 6:56 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Stevenson 35:32 5-14 3-4 1-1 3 2 15

Songaila 22:51 6-10 3-3 2-5 3 3 15

Mason 26:12 2-8 0-0 0-1 5 1 5

Young 27:20 7-13 5-6 0-1 2 2 19

Pecherov 14:27 0-5 0-0 0-4 1 0 0

McGuire 16:54 2-3 0-0 1-4 2 3 4

Totals 240 40-89 16-20 11-37 20 19 100

Percentages - FG .449, FT .800. Three-point goals - 4-20, .200 (Stevenson 2-5, Jamison 1-4, Mason 1-6, Daniels 0-1, Young 0-1, Pecherov 0-3). Team rebounds - 6. Team turnovers - 12 (16 pts.). Blocked shots - 4 (Blatche 2, Haywood, Mason). Turnovers - 11 (Blatche 4, Stevenson 2, Young 2, Haywood, McGuire, Songaila). Steals - 12 (Jamison 3, Blatche 2, Songaila 2, Haywood, Mason, McGuire, Pecherov, Young). Technicals - Defensive three second, 4:23 second; Defensive three second, 1:21 second.

FG FT Reb

DENVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Anthony 39:13 19-25 8-8 0-4 2 2 49

Martin 37:10 7-13 2-2 1-3 1 5 16

Camby 36:05 3-7 0-0 2-17 8 4 6

Carter 36:31 3-7 0-0 0-3 8 3 6

Iverson 43:27 7-9 4-5 1-4 11 0 18

Kleiza 25:48 3-11 4-4 1-2 0 3 10

Najera 17:04 1-5 1-2 1-3 2 0 3

Smith 4:42 1-1 1-1 0-1 0 1 3

Totals 240 44-78 20-22 6-37 32 18 111

Percentages - FG .564, FT .909. Three-point goals - 3-15, .200 (Anthony 3-3, Iverson 0-1, Martin 0-1, Carter 0-2, Najera 0-3, Kleiza 0-5). Team rebounds - 9. Team turnovers - 16 (14 pts.). Blocked shots - 5 (Camby 2, Martin 2, Kleiza). Turnovers - 16 (Iverson 6, Camby 4, Carter 2, Martin 2, Anthony, Najera). Steals - 7 (Anthony 2, Camby 2, Carter 2, Najera). Technicals - None.

Washington 16 31 25 28 - 100

Denver 30 26 32 23 - 111

A - 17,078 (19,155). T - 2:18. Officials - Scott Foster, Rodney Mott, John Goble.

tomassonc@RockyMountainNews.com

BALANCE OF POWER

Just how better is the Western Conference than its Eastern counterpart?

Only five Eastern teams have records above .500 - the Wizards dropped to 24-25 after their loss to the Nuggets on Friday - and the New Jersey Nets (21-29) currently hold the eighth playoff seed. In the West, Houston and Golden State, each 29-20, share the eighth spot.

"It'd be a shame if we didn't make the playoffs with having a pretty good record," said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, whose team entered Friday seventh in the West. "We still got 30-plus games left, we're still trying to get guys back healthy, and once that happens, hopefully, we should take off."

COACH CARTER?

Nuggets coach George Karl couldn't think of any immediate candidates when asked which of his players might follow his career path.

"I think Anthony Carter has the demeanor," Karl said after a long pause. "I'm not sure he's a head coach as much as he is an assistant. There's a different personality."

Karl has experience coaching a future coach, having tutored current Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan in Seattle in the 1990s.

"Nate, you could probably tell within two weeks of being around him that he was going to be a coach," Karl said. "I think there are more headaches to coaching than there were 15 years ago and a lot of players would prefer not to put up with that."

Karl could see Camby remaining in the game in an executive capacity.

HE SAID IT

"I'm looking at mid- to late March. Definitely, I'll be back."

Nuggets guard Chucky Atkins, who had surgery Jan. 11 to repair a sports hernia, vowing to return well before the conclusion of the regular season.

Paul Willis, Special to the Rocky

Comments

  • February 9, 2008

    3:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    HumnHilitFlm writes:

    Melo was spectacular and although he only had two assists, he passed the ball well when doubled.

    AI did a great job of not forcing anything going an impressive 7-9.

    http://www.pickaxeandroll.com

  • February 9, 2008

    8:35 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Broncos4Life writes:

    Dump Steven Hunter. He's taking salary cap space, bench space, and has'nt done anything since arriving in Denver. Is anyone at Kronke Sports missing Francisco Elson now? He may not be a big offensive threat, but he plays defense and rebounds. Right now the Nuggets only have Marcus Camby doing that on a regular basis. As for Hunter, when Camby is tired, just go to a small lineup while he rests. Hunter can't be counted on to play consistently.

  • February 9, 2008

    10:08 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jeremynix writes:

    Hunter has only played in like 3 games. He hasn't done anything because he hasn't ever had to. Ithought he played well in the absence of Camby for those two starts he had. No one expects him to match the Defensive Player of the Year's stats. TheNuggets are doing the best with what they have. Who do you suggest would take Hunters place?

  • February 9, 2008

    11:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    queenjacyln writes:

    Thats crazy the Wizzards thought the Nuggets were trying to show them up. The Nuggets could have easily blown the game. At one point they were only up by 4 and routinely only got the lead down to 10. Thats not the time to concede and put your bench in! They were still dunking in the last seconds of the game too. So what if the Nuggets wanted to Melo to score the final points?