Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Alerts | Electronic edition | Advertise | Subscribe to the paper | Today's Extras

Breaking News:

Subscribe

Martin steals the show in Nuggets win

Thefts from Bosh help Denver pull away from Toronto

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 23, 2008 at 3:59 p.m.

Text size  
Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who scored a game-high 36 points, drives past the Raptors' Carlos Delfino on Sunday.

Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who scored a game-high 36 points, drives past the Raptors' Carlos Delfino on Sunday.

Related Links

More Denver Nuggets

More stories »

Filed away in his defensive Rolodex, Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin has a little trick he learned while playing pickup games in Dallas.

It's a move that befuddles 40-year-old janitors and cocky teenagers home from spring break. Against NBA talent, the degree of difficulty rises significantly.

Though certainly not a highlight that will generate a million hits on YouTube, Martin's sleight-of-hand pickpocket of Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh proved to be the play of the game Sunday in the Nuggets' 109-100 victory at the Air Canada Centre.

"The MVP was Kenyon Martin," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Kenyon Martin's defense on Bosh was incredible. It got better as the game went on."

Led by Martin's aggressive play against the three-time All-Star Bosh, the Nuggets held the Raptors to one field goal in the final 2:37 and closed the game with a 13-2 run.

The late surge helped the Nuggets win consecutive road games for the first time since Feb. 12 but stayed 1 1/2 games behind Golden State, which beat teh Los Angeles Lakers, for the final Western Conference playoff berth. The Nuggets trail the Dallas Mavericks by two games.

Allen Iverson scored 36 points and Carmelo Anthony added 33 for the Nuggets, but they were deflecting much of the credit for Sunday's win.

"Phenomenal," Anthony said of Martin. "That's the only thing I can say about him."

Added Iverson: "All of us had a part in the game, but Kenyon came up with two real big steals. If he don't come up with those steals, you never know what can happen."

The outcome was in doubt when Anthony made two free throws to put the Nuggets ahead 100-98 with 1:53 remaining.

As expected, the Raptors put the ball in Bosh's hands on the next possession; smart move, considering Martin was playing with five fouls.

"I knew he was going left," Martin said.

Bosh indeed went left and enjoyed a false sense of security when Martin gave him a path to the basket. Before Bosh could get away a shot, Martin came from behind and swiped the ball with his left hand.

"I don't know where he came from," Bosh said. "I could have swore I went by him. He's quick as a cat. I didn't even see him. I figured he was out of the play, but he got it."

Martin credited the move to his Dallas roots.

"I call that an old-school steal," he said. "I used to see it a lot when I was young - a guy go by and you reach from behind and steal the ball. Guys don't do it a lot in the NBA."

The theft led to a three-pointer by Iverson with 1:17 to play, and Martin sealed the game when he intercepted an entry pass intended for Bosh and was fouled on the ensuing breakaway with 1:07 to go.

"It's all about intangibles," Martin said. "It's all about doing the little things. (My teammates) know I'm going to do that when the game is on the line. It was defense tonight, especially down the stretch."

Defense certainly wasn't an attribute for the Nuggets in the first quarter. They fell behind 35-18 as Toronto hit 16 of its first 22 shots but held the Raptors to 65 points on 41.7 percent shooting the rest of the way.

"After the first quarter, we were pretty good defensively, led by K-Mart," Karl said. "I thought K-Mart was the star of the game."

In addition to coming up with big defensive plays, Martin chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Not bad for a guy limited to two games in 2006-07 while recovering from his second microfracture knee surgery in 18 months.

"I don't think anybody could expect Kenyon Martin to play at the level he's playing at," Karl said. "With the two surgeries, we thought maybe by the end of the year he'd be playing some good games for us, but he's a rock for us now."

The Nuggets' next challenge will be finishing their five-game trip strong tonight in Memphis. The Grizzlies have been out of the playoff picture since Thanksgiving, but the Nuggets can ill afford to take anyone lightly with so much at stake.

"It's the most important game of our season - the next one," Iverson said. "We've got to have it. We're not going in there underestimating them. Whoever they put out on the court, we're just going to try to beat 'em, get out of there with a win and go back home."

NUMBERS GAME

14 assists for the Nuggets on 22 field goals in the second half. They didn't share as well in the first half, managing only seven assists on 17 field goals and trailed by eight at halftime.

SHAKING IT UP

Pleased with J.R. Smith's first-half play, Nuggets coach George Karl put the erratic shooting guard on the court to start the second half and brought point guard Anthony Carter off the bench.

"A.C. and I've been talking about it a little bit, messing with the lineup," Karl said. "We haven't played A.C. with the second unit. I talked to him at halftime. He said, 'Let's go with it,' so we did."

After scoring 14 points in the first half to help keep the Nuggets close, Smith went scoreless after halftime but did not commit a turnover or suffer egregious lapses on defense.

PLAYING IN PAIN

The stat sheet indicated Allen Iverson's broken right ring finger is getting better. After missing his first three shots, he made 11-of-13 including 5-of-6 three-pointers.

So, how's that finger?

"Is it feeling better? Man, no way," Iverson said. "It's something that I'm going to struggle with through the rest of the season. Every time I release, I get a little sting."

Iverson said Advil is the only thing he can take for the pain, but he does see one positive.

"The only good thing about it is, when I shoot now, I concentrate a lot more than I did before," he said.

HE SAID IT

"I do talk to myself a lot on the court. And I do answer myself. The answer is, don't get frustrated out there. . . . There's no need to argue with them guys. You can't win. It's like the police. You can't win with the police."

Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets forward, on keeping his cool despite shooting one free throw in the first 42 minutes.

Nuggets at Grizzlies

* When: 6 MDT tonight.

* Where: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tenn.

* TV/radio: Altitude2; KKFN-FM (104.3).

* Probable starting lineups

Denver (42-28) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 25.5

4 Kenyon Martin F 6-9 12.1

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 9.4

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 26.7

25 Anthony Carter G 6-2 7.9

Coach:

George Karl

Memphis (18-51) Pos. Ht. Pts.

22 Rudy Gay F 6-8 19.7

21 Hakim Warrick F 6-9 10.2

31 Darko Milicic C 7-0 7.3

33 Mike Miller G 6-8 16.9

11 Mike Conley Jr. G 6-1 8.7

Coach:

Marc Iavaroni

* Injuries: Denver - F Nene (testicular tumor) is out; Iverson (broken finger) is probable. Memphis - None reported.

* Notes: The Nuggets are 2-0 against Memphis this season. . . . The Grizzlies are 5-18 since trading Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 1. . . . Memphis is seeking its first three-game win streak of the season. . . . Including two meetings with the Grizzlies, the Nuggets face sub-.500 teams five times in the final 12 games. They are 23-7 against sub-.500 teams. . . . Denver finished the season 19-11 against the Eastern Conference and would be fourth in the Eastern Conference playoff race. "I told Larry Brown, 'If you're coming back, go coach in the East,' " Karl said. "We joke all the time, if we were in the Eastern Conference, we'd be resting our guys a little bit."

Comments

  • March 24, 2008

    11:31 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    I believe we'd be better off putting JR in the starting lineup and just using AC as a bench player. JR has been playing too well in the past few months. He's our only Guard besides AI that consistently goes straight to the rim. AC just waits for someone to cut.

    GO NUGS!!! Playoffs are within striking distance!

Post your comment

Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.

Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.




(Forgotten your password?)




News Tip

Know about something we should be reporting? Tell us about it.

Sponsored links



Reprints