Iverson, Camby play with pain, but losing to Spurs hurts most

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 10, 2008 at 2:59 p.m.

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Eric Gay / Associated Press

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, playing with a fractured finger, shoots over Spurs guard Tony Parker on Monday. Iverson scored 28 points but was frustrated by losing. "It's not hard to be mad," he said. "I'm extremely mad just being a competitor."

SAN ANTONIO - Allen Iverson's finger hurt. So did Marcus Camby's hip.

But the loss hurt the most.

The Nuggets led San Antonio by seven points in the third quarter. They were up by three midway through the fourth.

In the end, though, it added up to a loss and being knocked down another notch in the playoff race. The Nuggets fell to the Spurs 107-103 on Monday night at the AT&T Center to fall 21/2 games behind Golden State in the race for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference.

"It's not hard to be mad," said Iverson, the battered Nuggets guard. "I'm extremely mad just being a competitor."

Iverson learned earlier in the day he had suffered a small, nondisplaced fracture at the end of his ring finger. Iverson, hurt Friday, isn't expected to miss time, but it remains to be seen how the injury might affect his play.

Iverson shot 9-of-22 for a game-most 28 points. But he was only 5-of-15 in the second half.

"Just sore," Iverson said. "Just throbbing. Just something I expected. I was hoping to get hit on it to see how I'd respond. But I never got hit on it. I just had to play with the pain of it being broken."

Also in pain was Camby, the Nuggets center who bruised his right hip diving for a loose ball in the first half. Camby said he doesn't expect to miss time and hardly could complain when he saw the Nuggets had "a guy out there playing with a broken finger."

But Nuggets coach George Karl was complaining.

Karl didn't like several whistles that went against the Nuggets (37-26), especially what he called a "bad" goaltending call against forward Carmelo Anthony with 5:51 to play in the game that enabled the Spurs to cut the deficit to 94-93.

Anthony had hit the rim. The official ruled it was still vibrating when Ime Udoka missed a layup even though the ball hadn't left Udoka's hand when Anthony touched the rim.

"We were fighting against a lot of calls," Karl said. "We didn't get many calls. . . . Told the team a lot during the timeouts, 'Hey, we're not going to get calls.' We're not the only team that doesn't get calls in this building."

Iverson felt the same way.

"When you're playing against the world champions, a lot of things don't go your way," Iverson said. "But that's not taking anything away from those guys."

Those guys included Tim Duncan totaling 23 points and 18 rebounds and Manu Ginobili handing out a career-high 14 assists. Duncan's two free throws gave San Antonio the lead for good at 102-100 with 1:32 to play and Kurt Thomas hit a key 16-footer for a 104-100 advantage with a minute left.

"Great effort on the part of both teams," said coach Gregg Popovich, whose Spurs (44-19) team tied the season series 2-2, avoiding losing one to the Nuggets for the first time since 1987-88. "We finished the game well."

The Nuggets got 22 points from guard J.R. Smith and 18 from Anthony. But Karl said the Nuggets must get the ball more late in games to Anthony, who had only two points in the fourth quarter and just four after intermission.

A frustrated Anthony declined an interview request. He had picked up a technical late in the third quarter when he threw down the ball, angry no foul was called on Duncan when Anthony fell and was called for a backcourt violation.

Camby, who grabbed 14 rebounds, also got a technical in the third quarter for arguing a call.

"There are good losses, and it's definitely a good loss," said Karl, who said the Nuggets have "19 playoff games left.

"We all felt bad. Except for a couple losing our composure, we fought the way we're supposed to fight."

That didn't mean the loss hurt any less.

ETC.: By playing in his 60th game, Camby earned $1.5 million of a possible $2 million seasonal bonus for games played. Camby gets the full $2 million if he plays in 65 or more. . . . Kenyon Martin returned after being knocked out of Saturday's game against Utah with a mild concussion. Martin scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds. . . . Before Popovich invited in former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, who ran afoul of NCAA rules, to help, Karl was considering it. Karl, who had Sampson as an assistant at the 2002 World Championships, had talked with Denver's Eduardo Najera about Sampson, his Oklahoma coach.

IVERSON'S FRACTURE

X-rays Monday revealed a small, nondisplaced fracture at the end of Nuggets guard Allen Iverson's right ring finger. But Iverson will continue to play.

"Hopefully, (the doctor) will tell me I can play with this and it won't be any worse," Iverson said.

"If it doesn't get any worse, I think I can play through the pain."

Iverson was hurt when a ball hit his finger Friday, and initial X-rays were negative. But Iverson, who said he has "broken all my fingers" and knew something was wrong because it "hurts real bad,'' asked to be X-rayed again.

"It's hard enough trying to get into the playoffs," Iverson said. "It's just something else we have to deal with."

EYEING 50

While preseason goals of 55 or 60 wins have fallen by the wayside, the Nuggets (37-26) now want 50.

"Fifty's a goal we can reach," said Nuggets coach George Karl, hoping that will be enough for the playoffs.

Karl talked about winning 55 in the preseason; forward Carmelo Anthony sought 60.

"If we win games that we're supposed to and go out and play the way we're supposed to, I don't think 50 should be a problem," Anthony said.

HE SAID IT

"When I had Coby, we were going to name (him) . . . Jonathan Joseph after our dads. It just didn't sound good enough as an athlete name for me. So we went with Coby Joseph. Coby Karl sounds like a shortstop."

Karl, on he and his ex-wife, Cathy, naming their son after Coby Dietrich, once a San Antonio teammate of Karl's.

Spurs 107, Nuggets 103

FG FT Reb

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

Anthony 39:36 8-15 2-2 3-7 4 3 18

Martin 30:46 7-15 2-5 2-5 0 5 16

Camby 28:55 1-5 1-2 3-14 4 2 3

Carter 19:25 4-7 0-0 0-2 1 1 10

Iverson 42:54 9-22 7-7 0-5 4 2 28

Smith 28:35 9-13 3-5 2-6 1 4 22

Najera 22:56 1-3 2-2 0-2 2 3 4

Atkins 12:03 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

Kleiza 14:50 1-4 0-0 1-5 1 1 2

Totals 240 40-85 17-23 11-46 18 22 103

Percentages - FG .471, FT .739. Three-point goals - 6-16, .375 (Iverson 3-6, Carter 2-2, Smith 1-4, Anthony 0-1, Atkins 0-1, Najera 0-2). Team rebounds - 9. Team turnovers - 16 (11 pts.). Blocked shots - 4 (Iverson, Martin, Najera, Smith). Turnovers - 15 (Smith 4, Anthony 2, Camby 2, Carter 2, Iverson 2, Najera 2, Martin). Steals - 7 (Martin 2, Atkins, Iverson, Kleiza, Najera, Smith). Technicals - Camby, 6:13 third; Anthony, 2:51 third.

FG FT Reb

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

Bowen 41:11 4-8 1-2 1-2 0 2 11

Duncan 39:19 7-15 9-10 6-18 5 2 23

Thomas 23:45 6-8 1-4 0-2 0 5 13

Parker 39:14 6-14 4-4 0-2 4 1 16

Ginobili 32:03 4-11 4-4 0-3 14 2 13

Udoka 14:26 4-11 1-2 0-2 1 2 9

Oberto 8:00 1-2 0-0 2-4 1 1 2

Bonner 14:45 4-8 1-2 1-2 0 2 10

Finley 18:32 3-6 1-1 0-3 0 2 8

Stoudamire 5:37 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1 2

Vaughn 3:09 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Totals 240:01 40-84 22-29 10-39 27 20 107

Percentages - FG .476, FT .759. Three-point goals - 5-14, .357 (Bowen 2-2, Finley 1-2, Bonner 1-3, Ginobili 1-4, Udoka 0-3). Team rebounds - 8. Team turnovers - 12 (19 pts.). Blocked shots - 5 (Duncan 3, Bonner, Bowen). Turnovers - 11 (Duncan 2, Ginobili 2, Parker 2, Thomas 2, Bonner, Stoudamire, Udoka). Steals - 8 (Bowen 2, Ginobili 2, Bonner, Oberto, Thomas, Udoka). Technicals - None.

Denver 23 35 22 23 - 103

San Antonio 27 28 29 23 - 107

A - 18,797 (18,797). T - 2:23. Officials - Jim Clark, Courtney Kirkland, David Guthrie.

• March 11, 2008

  6:06 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  BalltownIA7 writes:

  Hey, Young Immature Nuggets (This includes the coach),
  Just because you BRING IT, doesn't mean you will always WIN IT. Oh wait, you're, the young immature Nuggets, you think if you decide to BRING IT, you should be handed the win, or you will automatically win. I like the effort last night, but as you can tell, even when you bring it you are not guaranteed a win. But if you bring it EVERY NIGHT, there is a better chance of winning every night. When you make such a HUGE SALARY, you think you would BRING IT EVERY NIGHT. Quit whining about the refs, you can't control the refs, all you can control is your effort and attitude every night and you are not doing that very well. Once you do that, you might earn some respect around the league and with the refs. GROW UP, BABY NUGGETS!!!!

• March 11, 2008

  10:11 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  grantarchy writes:

  I couldn't agree more. This team, Carmello in particular, still hasn't figured out that they have to work hard night in night out. They seem to expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter, that it should all be so easy. They think they can coast along and decide that if they want to be in the playoffs they'll just start playing hard and somehow they'll magically make it. You can hear it in what the players say, Camby being the exception and the only one grounded in reality. Carmello keeps saying "I ain't worried" - well, that's the problem, you're never worried Melo. You wanted Artest? Well, get ready to lose people instead once this season implodes and Kroenke decides to jettison some of your best chances to win that you may ever see.

• March 11, 2008

  11:55 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kmeissner writes:

  BalltownIA7... how many times can you say "bring it" in the same paragraph?

  I agree that they haven't played up to their potential, but you also have to agree that the Spurs get calls that no other team gets. Has Tim Duncan EVER fouled out of a game? The Spurs are the Raiders of the NBA. They are the dirtiest team i have seen in the past 3-4 years and it's BS that the refs favor them. They've won championships, but winning doesn't mean the refs should turn a blind eye to all of this.

• March 11, 2008

  12:36 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ShepDog writes:

  Melo gets hacked with no call more than any player in the league. If you're trying to say that Melo doesn't work hard during the games then you don't know the game very well. He rebounds and fights inside night in and night out, and the refs never show him any respect.
  Calling the Nuggets "babies" is just plain retarded. The Spurs whine about every call made against them and they are probably the least penalized team in the league.
  I'm sick of all these refs with Napoleon Complex who feel the need to dictate a game by making calls one way and not the other. Case in point: Iverson pushes off on Parker and gets called, Parker does the EXACT same thing, not more than a few minutes later and gets nothing. Pathetic.

• March 11, 2008

  4:48 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BalltownIA7 writes:

  kmeissner,
  You repeat things to make a point of emphasis, that's why I repeated BRING IT. They don't BRING IT, so they need to be told to BRING IT. Even when they are told to BRING IT, they still don't BRING IT.
  You're just like the BABY NUGGETS complaining about the refs. I think I stopped doing that in 3rd grade when I realized if I concentrate on what I could control I would be better off. Don't make excuses, make a difference. Nuggets have a LAME excuse every night, it's the refs, we had a back to back, AI was off, Melo was off, our Coach is lame.
  SUCK IT UP and BRING IT anyway, they are the players that will be labeled the best and highest paid that never made the playoffs. What is their problem man?
  You guys have whined your point enough, so what are the Nuggets going to do next time they play against the Spurs or the Jazz, GO OUT AND TAKE A VICTORY or wait for the refs to steal it from them. Play ball, quit whining about the refs, put forth an effort or give back the money you are being paid to play with effort.

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