Anthony returns, Nuggets rip Mavs 127-91
DENVER (AP)—Carmelo Anthony(notes) got an unexpected breather in his return from anankle injury.
Anthony, who missed the previous eight games with a sprained left ankle,scored 19 points before joining other Denver starters on the bench for thefourth quarter as the Nuggets had their most lopsided win of the season, 127-91against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.
“The good thing is my first game back, I didn’t have to do too much,”Anthony said. “But the bad thing is, I already had been sitting out for twoweeks. I wanted to play (more), but I’ll take a 36-point win any day.”
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk … AP – Feb 9, 11:57 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson… AP – Feb 9, 11:51 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey … AP – Feb 9, 11:49 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo… AP – Feb 9, 11:48 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets forward Nene, l… AP – Feb 9, 11:48 pm EST ![]()
Dallas Mavericks forward Drew … AP – Feb 9, 11:46 pm EST ![]()
Retired Denver Broncos quarter… AP – Feb 9, 11:45 pm EST ![]()
Retired Denver Broncos quarter… AP – Feb 9, 11:44 pm EST ![]()
Dallas Mavericks guard Jason K… AP – Feb 9, 10:08 pm EST ![]()
San Francisco 49ers cornerback… AP – Feb 9, 10:08 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo… AP – Feb 9, 10:07 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets forward Nene, f… AP – Feb 9, 10:00 pm EST ![]()
Denver Nuggets forward Nene, f… AP – Feb 9, 9:52 pm EST ![]()
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The victory margin against a Dallas team that Denver eliminated in lastseason’s semifinal round of the playoffs surpassed the Nuggets’ previous high of28 points, which they achieved twice in wins against Toronto and New Jersey inNovember.
Though Denver beat Dallas for the sixth time in seven meetings, theMavericks defeated the Nuggets in their previous encounter in December at thePepsi Center, dealing one of the Nuggets’ four losses in 27 home games thisseason.
“We didn’t expect to beat a good team like that by that amount of points,but we came out and played well from the beginning,” Anthony said. “Everybodygot involved. Everybody was on the same page. We knew in the back of our mindhow important this game was.”
And even though he was rested in the fourth quarter, Anthony said he playedlong enough to know that he has no lingering problems from the ankle sprain thathe suffered Jan. 23 against New Orleans.
“I approached this game wanting to see what I could and couldn’t do, and Ifound out I could do pretty much what I’ve been doing,” said Anthony, the NBA’ssecond-leading scorer.
Nene led Denver with 21 points, Chauncey Billups(notes) added 16 and Chris Andersen(notes)had 14 points to go with 10 rebounds. Rarely used reserves Malik Allen(notes) (sixpoints) and Johan Petro(notes) (13 points) combined for 19 points while playing inplace of Kenyon Martin(notes), who sat out because of tendinitis in his left knee.
“We knew we were going to be a little short-handed with K-Mart being out,”Billups said. “But we have so many different lineups we can play, so manydifferent guys who can play well together.”
Dallas was led by Dirk Nowitzki(notes) with 17 points but also had to deal with itsown injuries and a difficult back-to-back, arriving in Denver earlier Tuesdaymorning after beating the Golden State Warriors in Oakland the night before.
“I’m disappointed, but it was a tough turnaround, difficult situation,”Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.
Jason Terry(notes) had 16 points and Josh Howard(notes) 14 for Dallas, which was withoutShawn Marion(notes) because of lower back tightness. The Mavericks already were withoutErik Dampier, who has missed three of the last four games because of a left kneeinjury.
“Dampier’s a very important part of our team,” Carlisle said. “Not havinghim tonight, it makes it a lot tougher with guys like Nene and the Birdman(Andersen). Shawn’s situation tonight contributed. We need to get ourselveshealthy coming out of the (All-Star) break. I like this team. We’ve hadstruggles, but we’re going to keep pushing.”
Up by 65-39 at the half, the Nuggets pulled ahead 78-46, connecting on three3s in a row, two by Arron Afflalo(notes) and the third by Anthony.
The Mavericks tried to get back in the game with a 14-5 run but Denveranswered with a 7-0 burst touched off by a pair of baskets by Anthony, pullingin front 90-60 with 3:13 remaining in the third quarter and taking a 103-70 leadinto the final period.
At halftime, the Nuggets led 65-39.
Dallas managed to pull to 49-35 on a three-point play by Nowitzki with 4:13left in the second quarter but the Nuggets scored 16 of the next 20 pointsleading up to the break. Nene had five points in the flurry, including athree-point play in which he muscled in a layup underhanded as Kidd grabbed hisarm. Billups’ culminated the spree by hitting consecutive 3-pointers in thefinal seconds of the period.
Notes: Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway watched the game from a courtsideseat. … The Nuggets are 21-2 when holding opponents below 100 points. …Dallas has made a 3-pointer in 908 consecutive games. … Dallas never held alead at any point in the game. … The Mavericks were outshot from the floor.608 percent to .382 percent
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