Carmelo’s Nuggets Top Cavs, LeBron
LeBron James has some catching up to do. Carmelo Anthony overcame a sluggish start to score 20 of his 26 points in the second half, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 115-103 victory over James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
After going 1-for-5 in the first half, Anthony was 7-for-11 in the second to help Denver pull away for its sixth straight home victory. The former Syracuse star added five rebounds and blocked four shots for the Nuggets (11-6), who have won eight of 10 overall and are off to their best start since 1989-90.
“I was letting the game come to me in the second half,” Anthony said. “I started out missing a couple of shots, but I stayed in the game and kept my head in it.”
James finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, but forced a few shots in the second half and finished 6-for-19 in Cleveland’s seventh straight loss.
Anthony also outscored James 14-7 in the rookie stars’ first meeting, Denver’s 93-89 victory on Nov. 5 in Cleveland.
“There is something about Carmelo that it drives you a little sideways as a coach in that he embraces the moment,” Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “I just need for the moment to happen sooner.”
In the other NBA games, it was: Toronto 95, Philadelphia 88; New Orleans 100, Orlando 91; Dallas 97, Washington 72; and Milwaukee 106, Atlanta 94.
James got off to a good start in the rematch against his friend, scoring on a three-point play in the first 20 seconds, but couldn’t get much else going until after the Nuggets started to pull away.
“Our young boy struggled a little bit,” said Cavaliers coach Paul Silas, whose team has lost 32 straight road games for the third-longest streak in league history.
“He’s trying to find himself and take it on his own to do a lot. You just can’t do it that way, but he has learned a lot and I am very satisfied with his play.”
LeBron vs. Carmelo II didn’t have the fanfare or the celebrities of the original, but there was still plenty of excitement.
Scalpers set up shop in the morning and a crowd of 19,610 – the third-largest in team history – gave the Nuggets consecutive sellouts for the first time since March 1996.
About a dozen Denver Broncos players were in attendance, including Shannon Sharpe and Clinton Portis, who wore Nuggets jerseys at center court. Colorado Avalanche star Peter Forsberg also was at the game.
The rookies struggled at times, but showed glimpses of why there are considered the future stars of the NBA.
Anthony blocked consecutive shots by Chris Mihm in the first quarter and set up a layup in the fourth by freezing a defender with a fake pass. He also had a rebound slam on missed shot by Earl Boykins with 6:26 left in the game.
James was booed during introductions, but quieted the crowd with the three-point play – a no-look bounce pass that led to a layup by Ira Newble. In the fourth quarter, he hit a 3-pointer to keep the Cavaliers close and scored on a hanging reverse layup that drew oohs and aahs from the crowd.
“We gave you all what you wanted to see for the last time we are going to play each other this year,” said James, who was wearing a John Elway jersey after the game.
Nene added 21 points and had 13 rebounds for the Nuggets. Ricky Davis had 17 points for the Cavaliers, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Raptors 95, 76ers 88
At Philadelphia, Donyell Marshall scored a season-high 27 points and Jalen Rose had eight assists in their Toronto debuts.
Vince Carter added 21 points and a career-high 12 assists for the Raptors. Allen Iverson led Philadelphia with 35 points.
Hornets 100, Magic 91
At Orlando, Fla., New Orleans extended Orlando’s losing streak to 16, with Baron Davis scoring 21 points and adding 11 assists.
The teams play again in New Orleans on Wednesday night, and another Magic loss will match the franchise record set in 1991-92.
Gordan Giricek led Orlando with 23 points.
Mavericks 97, Wizards 72
At Dallas, Antawn Jamison scored 21 points and Michael Finley had 16 points and 12 rebounds to help the Mavericks improve to 10-0 at home. Larry Hughes had 12 points for Washington.
Bucks 106, Hawks 94
At Atlanta, Michael Redd had 25 points, and Dan Gadzuric made all six of his shots and scored a career-high 15 points for Milwaukee. Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 26 for Atlanta.