Carmelo on winning side of three-point shootout
Nuggets forward hits game winner after clutch shot by Thunder's Durant
By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published January 2, 2009 at 7:32 p.m.
Photo by Sue Ogrocki ©@ Associated Press
Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony, upper left, shoots a 3-point basket from the corner with 0.1 seconds left Friday to lift the Nuggets past the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-120 in Oklahoma City.
Photo by Layne Murdoch ©@ NBAE via Getty Images
Jeff Green forward shoots Friday over Kenyon Martin at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA CITY — After watching Carmelo Anthony on a daily basis during his three seasons as a Nuggets assistant, Scott Brooks got familiar with the superstar’s vast repertoire.
"He sprinkles it all around the court,’’ said Brooks, now interim coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. "He has the wing, the block, the free-throw line, the three-point line, in transition. He’s one of the special talents in this league.’’
Anthony proved why Friday night, scoring from just about every one of the aforementioned spots, including a three-pointer with one-tenth of a second remaining to give the Nuggets a 122-120 victory over the Thunder at the Ford Center.
Anthony, who finished with 31 points, took a pass from Kenyon Martin with 2 seconds left and hit his three from the left corner over Desmond Mason.
Kevin Durant had given Oklahoma City a one-point lead just seconds earlier, hitting a long three-pointer over Anthony.
With no timeouts remaining, the Thunder had no chance for a final counterpunch and fell to 4-30 on the season.
The Nuggets (22-12) now return home for seven straight home games, and there undoubtedly will be some signs of relief on the charter plane after overcoming a 14-point third-quarter deficit against a feisty young Oklahoma City team.
After pulling ahead by four points with 37.9 seconds left, the Nuggets watched as Durant scored the final seven points for the Thunder.
Durant finished with 33 points to lead six Oklahoma City players in double figures.
Anthony got plenty of support from his teammates as well.
Nene made 10 of 11 shots from the field and 7 of 8 from the line and finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds, while Chauncey Billups scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half.
With Denver trailing by 14 with 9:32 to go in the third quarter, Billups put the Nuggets on his back, hitting three three-pointers and scoring 12 points to get Denver within three points, 92-89.
The Thunder, though, regained the momentum with the final four points of the quarter. The last two came on a dunk by Damien Wilkins with 2 seconds left after J.R. Smith took an ill-advised shot on what should have been the final possession of the quarter.
The Nuggets looked poised to wrap up their four-game trip with a comfortable victory, taking an 11-point lead late in the first quarter.
Things turned in a hurry as the Thunder outscored the Nuggets 43-21 over the final 13½ minutes of the first half.
Earl Watson did much of the damage during a 10-2 run to close the second quarter. The former Nuggets point guard scored 13 points in the quarter, including six in the final 91 seconds as Oklahoma City took a 64-53 lead into the break.
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January 2, 2009
9:11 p.m.
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avsfan71085 writes:
that was unbelievable, I didn't think we would hit that last shot, but we did, what an awesome win. I know OKC isn't a good team, but they have some good players and pride and they really played up to the Nuggets talent tonight. Nevertheless it's a win!
January 2, 2009
9:56 p.m.
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jbowen43 writes:
Thank you Carmelo for another memory.
Didn't this Green cat travel nearly every time he touched the ball.
January 3, 2009
9:27 a.m.
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NMNugsfan writes:
That was a sick shot but a horrible game by the Nuggets. They just lucked out Melo hit it cuz we really played like sh*t, but it's still a win. We still should've put the game away after we had an 11 point lead, what happened to the awsome defense we we're playing in November? I think these guys still just get to happy with themselves cuz we're the division leader so they take off games. Thank god the Hornets played in Portland last night so we wont get killed after wasting all of our energy against a pathetic D-League team. Now that we have 7 straight home games I think we'll start getting back on track, it's just when your the only team that never get more than a day or two off a week you're gonna be tired. I think the NBA gives us a schedule like that every year to compensate for the altitude. Anyway we just have to start playing better cuz the schedule gets a little easier til Allstar break. Let's go Nugs take care of the home court tonight.