Denver Nuggets News Blog @newzblogz.com

The brave talk of the best record in the NBA's Eastern Conference is little more than an echo at the Berto Center these days. The same goes for homecourt advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs.

After losses against the harmless Memphis Grizzlies and the wayward Los Angeles Clippers -- and a potentially difficult game tonight vs. the visiting Denver Nuggets -- consider the Bulls (39-30, fifth overall in the East) to be on the brink of survival mode.

"We have to get back on track as soon as possible," forward P.J. Brown sounded yet another wakeup call Wednesday. "This can't become a habit. We can't have three or four losses in a row. The time is too crucial now."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

THE PROBLEM with a magic-carpet ride is that destiny generally jumps off when a better story line comes along.

The Saints providing a positive distraction while New Orleans recovers from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina trumps the Eagles winning without Donovan McNabb every time.

So now, with dreams of Super Bowl XLI no longer dancing in our heads, the desolate winter wasteland of Philadelphia sports is back in clear view.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

LAST FRIDAY on Comcast SportsNet's "Daily News Live," 76ers director of community affairs Sonny Hill and I were involved in a spirited discussion about Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his recent suspensions for delivering a blow to the head of the Minnesota Timberwolves' Marko Jaric and the San Antonio's Manu Ginobli.

While not saying Bryant was right, Hill explained/defended/reasoned the actions as being part of the basketball culture Bryant learned while growing up and playing the game in Philadelphia's "yard."

Basically, Hill said it was a playground way of telling an opponent, you've been up in my grill a little too much and here's what will happen when you don't give me some freedom to operate.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Imagine if every summer for more than 30 years, young Trojans in the NBA — some of them already All-Stars — kept returning to USC's North Gym or the Sports Arena or now the Galen Center to play pickup games.

And imagine if year after year, Bill Sharman, Tex Winter, Paul Westphal, Bob Boyd, Stan Morrison, George Raveling and Henry Bibby — all of them with some connection to USC — got together with Tim Floyd to play golf, talk basketball and hold a coaching clinic.

That is what USC is up against in North Carolina.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There's no question that this melding took a lot longer than anyone in the Rocky Mountain State expected.

Still, if Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony have indeed gotten things together, and the Denver Nuggets' five-game winning streak seems to suggest that, now is the ideal time to have it happen.

"When you win five games in a row, you get that kind of swagger about you," Iverson said after getting 20 points and five assists in the Nuggets' 94-90 victory over the New Jersey Nets last night. "You feel that you can't be beat, and that's the way we've got to approach games regardless of who we are playing."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

We've become hardened, numbed and desensitized to the violence and death that has become an everyday part of our society.

Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed early Monday morning, gunned down while sitting in a stretch limousine after leaving a New Year's Eve party.

About 9 hours earlier, he had played in the Broncos' last game of the season - a shocking overtime loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers that eliminated Denver from the playoffs.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

I HAVE BEEN wrong before. I already know that someday I'll be wrong again.

Writing opinions inherently means sometimes stepping out on a fragile limb that is bound to snap.

Still, I'm not sure if I've ever misread a situation as poorly as I did the 76ers' acquisition of Chris Webber.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Louisiana State center Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who has been contemplating a move to the NBA, has called a news conference for this morning to discuss his future.

Head coach John Brady said Davis, a junior, has been meeting with pro sports agents and that he is leaning toward turning pro.

The 6-9, 290-pound Davis was an Associated Press second team All-America selection during the 2005-06 season, when LSU went to the Final Four. This season, he averaged 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds but the Tigers finished 17-15 and did not advance to postseason play.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

This is the point of the NBA's 82-game season when pretty much everything is tired.

Questions.

''We need to circle the wagons right now,'' said an earnest P.J. Brown, one of the Bulls' three captains, when quizzed Wednesday about the team's two-game losing streak. ''We only have 13 more to go, and this is it. We've got to take care of our business the rest of the way.''

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

A federal lawsuit accuses county law enforcement of injuring a former NBA player while he was in custody last year.

Deputy Michael Hartshorn and two officers from the Public Safety Building jail are accused of battering Arian “Keon” Clark, 31, of the 300 block of Poland Road, after he was arrested in August for driving after his license was suspended.

Clark’s counsel, Champaign attorney Brian King, said the lawsuit was filed at the federal level because the allegations deal with a violation of his client’s constitutional rights.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

The Lakers Kobe Bryant seems to be the only Laker with a sense of urgency, as he took it upon himself to get the team out of their latest funk, which produced a seven-game losing streak.

The Lakers were staring at eight straight losses against a very poor Trailblazers team at Staples Center. Down by nine points with 1:40 Kobe continued his hot shooting, and scored the teams final nine points to send the game into overtime. He won the game for them in overtime, finished the game with 65 points, and may have saved the season.

The Lakers had lost 13 out of their last 16 games before Bryants heroics. The Denver Nuggets beat them, and tied them for the 6th seed in the playoffs. The Lakers were in a tailspin, and there was talk about the Lakers missing the playoffs all together.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

That much was proved Saturday, when Ellis turned the ball over eight times, one off his season-worst effort, and notched just two assists in 28 minutes during the Warriors' 99-98 win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

After a long run of successfully reining in his propensity for coughing up the ball, Ellis has committed 24 turnovers over his last five games, against 23 assists. That includes four turnovers and four assists in the Warriors' 104-100 loss to Utah on Tuesday.

"That's as bad as he's played, at both ends of the floor, in a long, long time," Warriors coach Don Nelson said of the Seattle game. "We've been trying to teach him all year, be under control. In the last two games, he had two plays where he just lowered his head, went in there and ran (a defender) over. I wonder if I'm getting my point across when those kind of things happen at this time of year.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

SALT LAKE CITY -- Monta Ellis has come far in his journey to become a legitimate NBA point guard. But there's still a ways to go.

That much was proved Saturday, when Ellis turned the ball over eight times, one off his season worst, and notched just two assists in 28 minutes during the Warriors' 99-98 win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

After a long run of successfully reining in his propensity for coughing up the ball, Ellis has committed 24 over his last five games, against 23 assists. That includes four turnovers and four assists in the Warriors' 104-100 loss to Utah on Tuesday.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

The Los Angeles Lakers star, on the strength of his 65-point outing against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, followed by a 50-point game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, has stormed past Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets and now leads the NBA in scoring with a 30.0 average.

Bryant is doing a lot more than just scoring, as he has put himself back in the thick of the MVP race. Using USA TODAY's MVP Index, Bryant has jumped to third in the MVP rankings, only one point behind co-leaders Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves.

USA TODAY subjectively picked 10 candidates and ranked them in six statistical categories that measure every aspect of the game.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Satellite broadband company WildBlue Communications Inc. said Tuesday it turned on for the first time its own satellite, greatly expanding its capacity.

The Denver-based company provides broadband Internet access to rural U.S. homes and businesses, using available capacity on a Canadian TV satellite to beam to dishes similar to those used for TV service.

WildBlue had filled up all available subscriber slots in many parts of the country, particularly in coastal states. The new satellite, WildBlue-1, will let the company accept new subscribers in those areas.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Maybe if Elton Brand didn't keep improving with age, it wouldn't be so painful. Maybe if the playoff-hopeful Bulls didn't need a player like Brand more than anything else, it wouldn't be so frustrating.

Maybe if the 28-year-old Los Angeles Clippers power forward wasn't such a classy, decent, hard-working, old-school kind of guy, it wouldn't be so hard for Chicagoans to take.

But Brand started the game Tuesday against the Bulls at the United Center showing exactly the kind of quality player he is, and all the Bulls could do was think about what might have been. The Bulls' 103-89 loss was about sealed from the get-go.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

You watch those behemoths jockeying for position from one end of the basketball court to the other and back again, or the boys of summer, leaping after pop flies, diving for line drives and sliding into third, inning after inning.

What keeps them going?

Increasingly, they get a boost from highly specialized diets developed by dietitians who parse and program restrictions and requirements to tailor meals to each player's precise needs.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

For late NBA game stories, visit www.theledger.com on the Internet, click on Sports, then click on Latest AP News.

NEW YORK- Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 24 points, and the Dallas Mavericks hit the 55-win mark for the third straight season by beating the New York Knicks, 92-77, Tuesday night.

Jason Terry added 15 points for the Mavericks, who pulled away from the short-handed Knicks early in the second half and improved the NBA's best record to 55-11. They have won three in a row after losing consecutive games for first time since starting 0-4.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Denver Nuggets have found a third option to go along with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson— defense.

Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets won their fifth straight game with a 94-90 decision over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

MIAMI — With 16 games left in the regular season, Heat players and coaches will be thinking about playoff seeding and home-court advantage, even if they won't admit it.

Winning its division wouldn't automatically give the Heat one of the top three seeds. Under the NBA's new rules, it needs to do more than that.

That's because the three division winners in each conference no longer are automatically seeded 1-2-3 based on records. Instead, they are guaranteed one of the top four spots. The other berth would go to the non-division winner with the best record.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. The Denver Nuggets have found a third option to go along with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson defense.

Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets won their fifth straight game with a 94-90 decision over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

"The most important thing for us is that we are playing defense," Iverson said. "We feel like we can score with Melo and myself and other players. We can put the ball in the basket, but we also have to stop people."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter of the Denver Nuggets' fifth straight win, a 94-to-90 triumph at New Jersey.Allen Iverson added 20 points, including a clinching free throw in the final seconds to help the Nuggets win at New Jersey for the first time since 2000.Marcus Camby and Steve Blake each had ten points for the Nuggets, who had been 0-and-21 when scoring fewer than 99 points this season.Vince Carter had 29 points and nine assists for th...

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Denver Nuggets have found a third option to go along with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson — defense.

Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets won their fifth straight game with a 94-90 decision over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

"The most important thing for us is that we are playing defense," Iverson said. "We feel like we can score with Melo and myself and other players. We can put the ball in the basket, but we also have to stop people."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

(Sports Network) - The Golden State Warriors try to continue their push towards their first playoff berth since 1994, as they visit the slumping Utah Jazz tonight at EnegySolutions Arena.

Golden State is No. 8 in the Western Conference and leads the Los Angeles Clippers by one game for the eighth and final playoff spot, while the Northwest Division-leading Jazz, who are the fourth seed in the West, lead the second place Denver Nuggets by nine games in the Northwest.

The Warriors enter tonight's contest on a three-game winning streak. Baron Davis drilled the game-winning jump shot from just inside the top of the key with 2.3 seconds left to lift Golden State over the Seattle SuperSonics, 99-98, on Saturday at KeyArena.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

East Rutherford, N.J. - Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets won their fifth straight game with a 94-90 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday night.

Allen Iverson added 20 points and a clinching free throw in the final seconds in helping the Nuggets win for the first time in New Jersey since 2000. It also marked the first time this season that Denver has won a game (1-21) when scoring less than 99 points.

Vince Carter had 29 points and nine assists for the Nets, but he was called for walking with 45 seconds to play, and missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

PORTLAND, Ore. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and had eight rebounds in Portland's 100-to-98 win over Washington.Fellow rookie Brandon Roy helped the Trail Blazers end a four-game losing streak, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three key baskets in the final three minutes.The Blazers erased a nine-point halftime lead and won without leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph, who was granted bereavement leave Monday.Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Gilb...

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

With a month left in the regular season, their focus is on retaining sixth place in the West. The schedule appears favorable, with 10 of their last 15 games against losing teams.

March 20, 2007

Crunch time

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis' leading scorer, did not practice because of a sprained left ankle Monday as the Tigers prepared for Texas A&M.

"The kid says he's going to play, but you never know,'' Memphis coach John Calipari said.

Douglas-Roberts went down in pain with about eight minutes to play in the Tigers' 78-62 victory over Nevada in New Orleans on Sunday.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Well into the final quarter of the NBA?s regular season, here are nine burning questions that are just begging for answers:

Nash or Nowitzki ? who?s the MVP? Last week?s classic between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns may be a microcosm of the season. It took two overtimes before the two best teams in the league settled things, and they were settled in favor of the Suns because of the most clutch player in the league: The two-time defending MVP. It?s not fair to argue in favor of Nowitzki just because he?s the best player on the team with the best record. Nash makes the good players around him look like stars, and the stars like superstars. Make it three in a row.

So, which of them will emerge from the flames of the red-hot West? Actually, neither. The Mavs and Suns are the two best teams, but neither of them will reach the Finals. That?s because the most fundamentally sound team, quiet and efficient all season, then lethal in the playoffs ? when defense matters ? is the San Antonio Spurs.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Of the 3,001 entrants in the AJC's bracket contest, only one other college basketball fan is in Ron Sims' league after two rounds.

Figures. Sims is a Hoosier, after all.

"Born and raised in Indiana," the retired AT&T employee said Monday from his Conyers home, where he watched his beloved IU Hoosiers win one and lose one. "I've got Bobby Knight's autograph in my basement."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

BOISE, Idaho — The son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is scheduled to have surgery next month to remove cancerous lymph nodes.

Boise State University officials have revealed the plans for Coby Karl to undergo surgery, his second operation in 13 months.

Karl had his thyroid removed last March after being diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, a form of treatable cancer. He underwent chemotherapy to try to kill any remaining cancer cells soon after the surgery.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin remains tight-lipped about prospective men's basketball coaching candidates. He won't name the advisory committee members he has selected to screen candidates. But he did give a short description Monday as to what he's looking for in a coach.

"I want a coach who has a proven system for winning, a style of play that's attractive to many types of players, and he has to come from a major conference," Martin said. "He's got to be able to recruit."

Advertisement

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Atlanta extended its home winning streak to five games. Sacramento, led by Corliss Williamson's 14 points, dropped to 1-6 since its four-game winning streak ended March 6 against Indiana.

The Kings led 13-12 on Mike Bibby's 3-pointer midway through the first quarter, then faded quickly. Sacramento trailed by 28 late in the third quarter, failing to score a third-quarter field goal until Ronnie Price's jumper with 2:33 left.

Kings starters Ron Artest, Mike Bibby, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Kevin Martin combined to go just 13-for-37 from the field for 33 points. Starting center Brad Miller sat out most of the game with his recurring plantar fascia.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

South Carolina baseball coach Ray Tanner dismissed two freshman players, including highly touted outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall, from the team after they were charged with breaking into a dorm room and stealing electronic equipment.

Chisenhall, who was ranked by Baseball America before the season as the nation's top freshman player, and reliever Nick Fuller stole a flat-screen TV, a video game system and DVDs on March 13 while students were on spring break, according to arrest warrants.

Fuller, rated by Baseball America as the No. 4 freshman player, was charged with three counts of burglary and three counts of grand larceny, while Chisenhall was charged with one count each of grand larceny and burglary.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Levi Luster scored the go-ahead basket with a minute left in the fourth overtime, and Concordia of Irvine ousted top-seeded and previously unbeaten Robert Morris of Illinois, 124-119, on Monday night in the semifinals of the NAIA tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

Keith Lawrence, whose off-balance three-point shot at the buzzer forced the fourth overtime, made a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left that gave Concordia (31-6) a 122-119 lead in the second-longest game in the 70-year history of this small-college championship.

Luster finished with 29 points.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

GIVE EM A DAY OFF! Tonight the Denver Nuggets return to the hardwood for a game against the New Jersey Nets after spanking the Phoenix Suns Saturday 131-107.

It was a spanking alright of epic proportions. When was the last time anyone has seen Suns MVP guard Steve Nash made to look so helpless and outclassed? Perhaps in past Suns-76ers games, but not since Allen Iverson has been in Denver.

That game was what so many around the state and even around the country believes was possible when Iverson was sent to Denver earlier this year. Iverson is regarded as the best point guard in the game, and we had all hoped that his presence would transform the Nugs from a playoff participant to a championship contender.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Click photo to enlargeLos Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant walks off the court after the Denver Nuggets' 113-86 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver on Thursday, March 15, 2007. The loss was the seventh in a row for the Lakers, who have also dropped 13 of their last 16 games.«1»

No other basketball player's fortunes are tied as tightly to his team's these days as Kobe Bryant's are to the Lakers'.

It's not only Bryant's recent heroics that spark this surprising realization - his 65 points in a come-from-behind overtime victory over Portland on Friday and his 50 in a desperate win over Minnesota on Sunday, performances that would have meant nothing if the Lakers had lost.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Kansas assistant Tim Jankovich has accepted the head-coaching job at Illinois State.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self said Monday that Jankovich would be leaving Kansas. An announcement from Illinois State is expected at a news conference today.

In a statement congratulating Jankovich, Self said his assistant wanted to get the word out promptly so the move wouldn't be a distraction as the Jayhawks prepare for their Sweet 16 game Thursday against Southern Illinois in San Jose, Calif.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Few could have prepared them for Florida State's Al Thornton, though. The Bulldogs host Thornton's Seminoles on Tuesday in the third round of the National Invitation Tournament, and coach Rick Stansbury said he hasn't come up with any ideas while watching film on how to stop Thornton.

"I don't think anybody's figured that out," Stansbury said.

"He puts it down on the floor like a guard and he posts up like a center. He has no weaknesses in his game."

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

BOISE, Idaho Boise State's Coby Karl, who just completed his senior season and is the son of NBA coach George Karl, will have surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes next month, the school said today.

It will be the second surgery in 13 months for Karl, who had his thyroid removed last March after being diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, a form of treatable cancer. He also underwent chemotherapy to try to kill off any remaining cancer cells shortly after his surgery.

Karl is scheduled to play in the NABC All-Star game in Atlanta on March 31, then return to Boise to have the lymph nodes removed April 2.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

BATON ROUGE, LA. LSU center Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who has been contemplating a move to the NBA, has called a news conference for this morning to discuss his future.

Coach John Brady said Davis, a junior, has been meeting with pro sports agents and that he is leaning toward turning pro.

The 6-9, 290-pound Davis was an AP second-team All-America selection during the 2005-06 season, when LSU went to the Final Four. This season, he averaged 17.7 points and 10.4 rebounds.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Well into the final quarter of the NBA?s regular season, here are nine burning questions that are just begging for answers:

NASH OR NOWITZKI ? WHO?S THE MVP?: Last week?s classic between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns may be a microcosm of the season. It took two overtimes before the two best teams in the league settled things, and they were settled in favor of the Suns because of the most clutch player in the league: The two-time defending MVP. It?s not fair to argue in favor of Nowitzki just because he?s the best player on the team with the best record. Nash makes the good players around him look like stars, and the stars like superstars. Make it three in a row.

SO, WHICH OF THEM WILL EMERGE FROM THE FLAMES OF THE RED-HOT WEST?: Actually, neither. The Mavs and Suns are the two best teams, but neither of them will reach the Finals. That?s because the most fundamentally sound team, quiet and efficient all season, then lethal in the playoffs ? when defense matters ? is the San Antonio Spurs.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Colorado Springs, Colo. ?- Georgia might find out tonight what it would have been like to play in the NCAA tournament.

In Air Force, which it plays in the second round of the NIT (9 p.m., ESPNU), Georgia will face a team that could have been playing in that other tournament. The Falcons (24-8) were ranked as high as No. 11 this season, won 17 of their first 18 games and beat six teams that got invitations to the NCAAs. Under the direction of former Denver Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik, they run the Princeton motion offense, utilizing 6-foot-6 and 6-8 wing players to bury 3-pointers and dunk backdoor cuts.

And Georgia (19-13) gets Air Force at home, where it hasn't lost a non-conference game since December of 2002 (vs. UAB).

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER (AP) — Allen Iverson feels right at home just in time for the Denver Nuggets' big road trip.

Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight win, a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER (AP) -- Allen Iverson feels right at home just in time for the Denver Nuggets' big road trip. Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight win, a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night. Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson's night by adding 29 points in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago. Now, the surging Nuggets hit the road for five straight games and eight o...

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER - Allen Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Denver Nuggets to a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson's night with 29 points in 32 minutes in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.

Iverson made 16-of-22 shots from the field and Anthony was 13-for-20.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER - What started out as a statement week for the Phoenix Suns ended with back-to-back embarrassments and a flurry of questions for which there were no snappy answers.

In the days since Wednesdays huge double-overtime win in Dallas that figured to swell the team with confidence, the Suns have looked deflated, demoralized and lost. And while the Pistons ran away by forcing their slow-down, physical style on Phoenix, the Denver Nuggets not only beat the Suns at their own game, they quickly pounded them into submission in a 131-107 rout at the Pepsi Center.

Denvers new duo of Allen Iverson (44 points, 15 assists) and Carmelo Anthony (29 points) combined to hit 19 of 42 shots and scored at will against a Suns team that started off poorly and went downhill after that.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER, Colo. Allen Iverson poured in 44 points and doled out 15 assists to lead an offensive explosion by the Denver Nuggets, who scored 70 points before the half, led by 40 points early in the fourth quarter, and torched the Phoenix Suns, 131-107.

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their fourth straight to pull into a virtual tie with the LA Lakers for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Denver is 33-31, while the Lakers are 34-32. Nene scored 14 points and raked in 10 boards, and Marcus Camby had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Leandro Barbosa scored 25 points for the Suns, who would have clinched the Pacific Division with a win. Steve Nash scored 15 points and tallied 10 assists for Phoenix, which has lost two straight.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Allen Iverson feels right at home just in time for the Denver Nuggets' big road trip. Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight win, a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson's night by adding 29 points in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.

Now, the surging Nuggets hit the road for five straight games and eight of their next nine.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER ? Allen Iverson feels right at home just in time for the Denver Nuggets' big road trip. Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight win, a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson's night by adding 29 points in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.

Now, the surging Nuggets hit the road for five straight games and eight of their next nine.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Allen Iverson feels right at home just in time for the Denver Nuggets' big road trip. Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight win, a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson's night by adding 29 points in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.

Now, the surging Nuggets hit the road for five straight games and eight of their next nine.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

SPOKANE -- Back when his friends were going to movies, hanging out at parties, learning to drive and doing all the other things teenagers do, Kevin Durant was in the gym.

Basketball was always his first priority, his No. 1 love.

"He never followed the traditional route," says Taras Brown, the AAU coach who has mentored Durant since he was a lanky 9-year-old.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

15 assists to lead an offensive explosion by the Denver Nuggets, who scored 70

points before the half, led by 40 points early in the fourth quarter, and

torched the Phoenix Suns, 131-107.Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Nuggets,

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

DENVER Allen Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Denver Nuggets to a 131-to-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns.Carmelo Anthony added 29 points in 32 minutes in the duo's best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.Iverson made 16-of-22 shots from the field and Anthony was 13-for-20.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

OAKLAND - THINK BACK to the first time the Warriors faced the Minnesota Timberwolves this season.

The Warriors gave up 121 points in a dismal 28-point road loss on Feb. 7.

Of course Baron Davis missed that game with a sore knee that eventually needed surgery. Jason Richardson was still out with a broken hand.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit