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Nuggets defense can't figure out Phoenix

Suns' 81 points in second half drop Denver to ninth

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 31, 2008 at 10:32 p.m.

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Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who continues to play with a fractured right ring finger, drives to the basket against the Suns on his way to scoring 21 points in Denver's loss in Phoenix.

Photo by Barry Gossage / Nbae Via Getty Images

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who continues to play with a fractured right ring finger, drives to the basket against the Suns on his way to scoring 21 points in Denver's loss in Phoenix.

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Just like that, the Nuggets are again out of playoff position.

And, just like that, George Karl still hasn't won as Denver's coach at US Airways Center.

Karl had proclaimed before Monday's game it was time for the Nuggets to finally break through. It looked really good for a while as they took a 22-point first-half lead.

Instead, the Suns stormed back to win 132-117, their seventh straight home win over the Nuggets, all since Karl came to Denver in January 2005.

"It was a total meltdown," Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said.

The loss ended the Nuggets' five-game winning streak and dropped them back to ninth in the Western Conference playoff race. Denver (45-29) is a half game behind No. 8 Golden State and a game behind No. 7 Dallas.

Forward Amare Stoudemire led the Suns (50-24) with 41 points, 27 in the second half. Guard Steve Nash added 36 points, hitting a career-high eight three-pointers, and center Shaquille O'Neal had 20 points.

The Nuggets got 23 points from guard J.R. Smith. Iverson totaled 21 and forward Kenyon Martin added 19.

The Nuggets looked to be cruising when they led by as many as 22 points in the second quarter and were up 70-51 at halftime. But they collapsed in the second half, being outscored 81-47.

"I have no idea," said Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, trying to figure out what hit his team. "It didn't even seem like 81 points, but they did it. The best thing is we play them again in less than 23 hours."

The Nuggets and Suns play again tonight at the Pepsi Center. Anthony vows to be ready.

"We're still playing our best basketball (of the season)," Anthony said. "Just because we lost this game, we're not losing our confidence. We're going to go back and get this one (tonight)."

The Nuggets followed perhaps their best first half of the season with perhaps their worst. They gave up a season-high point total and allowed Phoenix to score its most points in a half in 14 years.

The Suns tied for their third-biggest comeback win ever. It was their biggest home comeback in their 40-year history.

"Unbelievable game in a lot of aspects," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I am really proud of just coming out with defense and offense both together in the second half."

Denver was outscored 35-22 in the third quarter as the Suns cut the deficit to 92-86. Phoenix outscored the Nuggets 46-25 in the fourth.

"Forty-six points in the fourth quarter is unheard of, especially for a team trying to fight for a playoff spot," Nuggets center Marcus Camby said.

Camby said it was "frustrating" watching the game turn when he was sitting on the bench and Nash was driving to the lane freely in the fourth quarter. Camby went out with the Nuggets up 103-99 with 8:42 left and came back with Denver down 120-111 and 3:41 remaining.

"It was disappointing, frustrating," Karl said. "But I'm sure the film will show we did a lot of good stuff."

One good thing was the first half featuring a very encouraging six-minute stint by Nuggets forward Nene, playing just his second game after missing 21/2 months because of testicular cancer surgery. Nene checked with 1:38 left in the first quarter, and 36 seconds later he drilled a 15-footer, his first points since Jan. 7 at Phoenix.

There was more to come. Nene threw down a ferocious dunk in the second quarter and finished the half with four points, four rebounds and a block.

"Gradually, I'm going to be better," Nene said. "It's like (riding) a bike. What I need to do is get in shape. It takes time."

Nene didn't play in the second half, which he said pretty much was the plan.

"I don't think he wanted to go back in," Karl said. "I didn't ask him personally, but I asked (strength coach) Steve Hess. . . . He didn't feel like I should push that."

ETC.: Karl said he talked to his son Coby and was told the Lakers soon expect to assign him to the NBA Development League's Los Angeles D-Fenders for the third time this season, the maximum allowed. "I thought it was good," Karl said of the impending move. "You haven't played. It's good to go down for a week of basketball, where you're on the court 35 to 40 minutes a game." . . . Nuggets guard Yakhouba Diawara got hit in the mouth late in the game by O'Neal. He had to have two teeth pushed back into position. "It hurt, but I don't think he did it on purpose," Diawara said. . . . Iverson was 3-of-5 from the foul line and now has 713 free-throw attempts this season, breaking the team record of 709 set in 2005-06 by Anthony.

SURGERY EXPECTED

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson expects he will need surgery after the season on his fractured right ring finger. For now, he's not planning to miss playing time.

"I think it's getting worse," said Iverson, who doesn't know how long such surgery would keep him away from basketball.

Iverson was injured March 7. He's not an active participant in practices and shootarounds, and he wears a splint off the court.

"I don't know," Iverson said when asked if the splint helps. "I don't feel like it."

Nuggets coach George Karl continues to be concerned about Iverson's finger.

"I worry about it all the time," he said. "If he has a bad game, you think about it."

ANTHONY HONORED

Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony was named Western Conference Player of the Week, his second such honor this season and the eighth in his five-year career.

"It feels good," said Anthony, who averaged 26.7 points and 8.7 rebounds as the Nuggets went 3-0. "I think it's just because of all our team success."

Anthony passed Alex English's team record of seven Player of the Week award wins. But when English played for Denver from 1979 to 1990, there was one weekly award for the entire NBA.

"He's a legend," a flattered Anthony said of English.

HE SAID IT

"We can't get happy. We can't get complacent. Our history has been, when we get happy, we stub our toe. I said I blame that on the coaching staff."

Karl, on warning his players against overconfidence because of their five-game winning streak entering Monday.

Suns at Nuggets

* When: 7 tonight.

* Where: Pepsi Center.

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

* Probable starting lineups

Phoenix (50-24) Pos. Ht. Pts.

19 Raja Bell F 6-5 12.1

1 Amare Stoudemire F 6-10 25.1

32 Shaquille O'Neal F 7-1 13.7

13 Steve Nash G 6-3 17.5

10 Leandro Barbosa G 6-3 15.9

Coach:Mike D'Antoni

Denver (45-29) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 25.5

4 Kenyon Martin F 6-9 12.5

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 9.4

25 Anthony Carter G 6-2 8.0

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 26.5

Coach:George Karl

* Injuries: Suns - F Grant Hill (strained right groin) is out. Nuggets - None reported.

* Notes: The teams meet for the second straight night. . . . The Suns revealed before Monday's game Hill would sit out both games against the Nuggets. He'll miss his third straight overall tonight. . . . Karl called it "beyond my . . . thought process" the Nuggets would be in a fight just to make the playoffs while on pace to win about 50 games. "Our goal was to win 54 and we could fall two short, with Nene (testicular cancer) missing the year and Chucky (Atkins, sports hernia) missing the year," said Karl, referring to two players now back. "That's just incredible." . . . The Nuggets are 30-7 at home, having won eight straight and 18 of 20.

Comments

  • March 31, 2008

    11:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    JoeBarryCarroll writes:

    I could not possibly be more fed up with George Karl. His absolute unwillingness to coach (you know, stand up, instruct players during the game, call timeouts to try and combat runs, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS, etc) is completely unacceptable. There is no other coach in the league who refuses to play a part in the game like he does.

    How are you possibly going to bench JR down the stretch when he is that hot? (Oh, and it'll be nice to see JR walk away and become a great player b/c Karl's thrown him under the bus one too many times). Good thing we had Anthony Carter in there, fantastic.

    I know Nene's just coming back but he was clearly the only person who could keep Shaq out of the lane. Couldn't he get a little burn in the final 6 minutes?

    And I know we play again tomorrow but NOBODY calls off the dogs when they're down 10 with 2 minutes to go like George does. Woulda been nice to have your best scorers (JR included) in there with 5 or so minutes (oh, and love melo checking in at 6 min).

    If we don't get out of the first rd, we'd better can his sorry ass. Worst part is, we're gonna cut costs on the roster instead. I hate saying change is due without giving a better candidate but somebody out there can surely do better than this and it's a damn attractive job.

    Look George, I'm glad that your family's overcome such hardships and that it's made you realize that "there's a lot more to life than basketball." Clearly there is. But, I want my COACH to actually COACH during the game, not just sit there with a mouth full of cough drops and chew on his lip.

    we're a damn good team and have great fans.

    we deserve better than this.

  • April 1, 2008

    9:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rocketryder writes:

    Is it just George Karl? Why aren't you critizing him and his unacceptable coaching style when the Nugs were up 22 at the half? Did/does his coaching style change during the game? I saw no difference last night regardless of the score.

    And last time I checked, Shaq wasn't the problem last night. Nash and Amare got to the bucket last night AT WILL. Whenever they wanted. Whenever they felt like it. They killed the Nuggets last night. I mean, the Suns were basically coming down and running variations of the pick and roll almost every possession, and the Nugs STILL couldn't figure it out. Everybody on the Nuggets roster has been in the league for years, and has seen the pick and roll thousands of times. You couldn't tell from watching last night. And let's not even mention the terrible shot selection in the 2nd half. They were up double digits, in control of the game and STILL coming down jacking up and forcing shots. Like AI said. A total meltdown.

    Face it. Like I've been saying for a while. The Nugs have no heart or desire. They had their foot on the throat of a good team in their house, up by 22. They absolutely implode and end up losing by 15. And some of ya'll think this team is gonna make some noise in the playoffs? lol

  • April 1, 2008

    10:17 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    EdVMorales writes:

    Watch the game last night until AFTER the half time. What happen to covering NASH. He was kill us with those 3 pointers. F#$% cover him and maybe Nugget will win the game. Nene was awesome with the time he played. JR need to starts.

  • April 1, 2008

    11:29 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    TONE writes:

    I really like what they did in the last 5 or 6 game, but the nugget are just a team of the moment and not a team of champion calibert yet, like the Spurs. They have the talent to beat anyone but some how they look like there is a missing puzzle to the team's chemistry and I can't pin out what that is, or it could just be their history. Actually, I'm hoping they will miss the playoff and get a good seating for draft day instead of making the playoff and be out the 1st round and have worst seating in the draft. It has been like this for acouple season now and I think we need another good selection from the draft to add dept to the rotation. Just think about it. Once we were like a young team and all the sudden we are an old team and without Gamby back there, we would only be fit for the Eastern Conference. We gave up 2 years of draft choice and we need them now and this draft seems to have some pretty nice big man out there that we can go after and will help us in the future. We still have a good franchise player Melo and we need to concentrate on building around him now also and trying to win it all. Lets not do the quick fix like the Bronco have been doing. JR is coming around and I like what he is bringing now then before... So I hope we can get some nice piece this draft to compliment what we have so we can really compete with these powerhouse. About coaching, there is some question about it. But maybe Greorge is waiting for Dunlap to get more exprience and give it to him. Hey that might not be a bad choice after all... GO NUGGET!!!! STAY OUT OF THE PLAYOFF PLEASE!!!!!!!

  • April 1, 2008

    11:37 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    JoeBarryCarroll writes:

    Oh please don't get me wrong, we have a ton of guys who are on the hook for this collapse. Thing I can't deal with is failing to properly coach, use timeouts and put the best lineup on the floor in needed scenarios. Karl does NO COACHING once that whistle blows. We should get him a seat behind the bench, some crazy dreads and a cherry red tan like Steve Hess.

  • April 1, 2008

    12:39 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    FL_transplant writes:

    Well if the nuggets make the playoffs, they wont last against a no 1 or no 2 seed. No defense, no coaching and streaky offense. They have improved leaps and bounds from pre-melo, but tit looks like they need to cash in a few weapons for some defense. Artest doesnt look to bad right now.

  • April 1, 2008

    3:45 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    halecsu writes:

    Karl is definetley on the hot seat. He was originally brought here to help us advance in the playoffs. And by the looks of our team so far this season, it doesn't look like we'll get past the first round again! Yes, this is a great nuggets team and one of the most competitive playoff races ever, but they can never finish a game. Which is huge for playoff success.

  • April 1, 2008

    6:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    stop2006 writes:

    damn George Karl what the hell you were thinking. he hates JR i don't know why. also NENE was playing like the old NENE damn it give him 15 min at least. George Karl is the stupidest coach i have ever seen. George Karl please use timeout when ur team can't score or can't stop other teams from scoring.

  • April 1, 2008

    6:26 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    NHRAFAN writes:

    We need to bring in a veteran player here to lead the team on the court who's not afraid to get in a players face when there not playing D.
    And yes, George needs to start coaching. He waits to long to call TO's and leaves the starters in to long. And how about showing some emotion?
    We need leadership!

  • April 1, 2008

    8:19 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Spider writes:

    You'd think after 70 games they would learn that when they run, pass and play team basketball they're just about unstoppable. As soon as they go to the half court game (which they suck) they couldn't beat the CU Buffaloes.