Denver Nuggets Blog – Page 66 – NBA Blog

Allen Iverson out for rest of season

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the remainder of the season. The all-star guard missed 16 games between February 27 and March 28 after exiting a game at New Orleans with a sore back on February 25.

“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” said Dumars. “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point.”

Iverson returned to action on March 29 versus Philadelphia and scored eight points with two assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes. In his three games back since the initial injury, he has averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.7 minutes per game.

Acquired by the Pistons from Denver on November 3, the 6-foot-0 guard has appeared in 54 games this season (50 starts) averaging 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 36.5 minutes per game.

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Smith leads Nuggets past Jazz for 50th win

The AP reports: The Denver Nuggets reached 50 wins faster than any time in their NBA history Thursday night, when J.R. Smith sank eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points in a 114-104 victory against the Utah Jazz. Smith had 21 points in 15 minutes in the first half, helping turn an 11-point deficit into a 54-43 halftime lead that Denver never surrendered against a team that’s lost six of its last seven road games. Smith’s eight 3-pointers tied a career high, and was one shy of the franchise mark set by Michael Adams in 1991 and tied four years later by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points for the Nuggets, who are seeking home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988. They won for the 10th time in 11 games and improved to 50-26… C.J. Miles led six Jazz in double figures with 19 points.

Playoff-bound Nuggets beat Knicks behind Anthony

The AP reports: Hours before the calendar even turned to April, the Nuggets weren’t just alive and kicking but playoff-bound, clinching a spot in the postseason party with a 111-104 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night… Fueling this win were Anthony’s 29 points, Nene’s 18 points and 12 boards, and Kenyon Martin’s jumpers in crunch time, all of which helped Denver hold off the Knicks after blowing most of a 27-point second-quarter lead… Denver has won nine of 10 and New York has lost nine of 10, so a mismatch was expected, and the Nuggets obliged by racing out to a 62-35 led with five minutes left in the first half. That’s when they got lackadaisical, and the Knicks, who were led by Nate Robinson’s 30 points, got hot.

Nuggets recall Sonny Weems from D-League

The Denver Nuggets have recalled G/F Sonny Weems from the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.

Weems, who was re-assigned to the 14ers on March 6, has averaged 20.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.9 apg and 1.05 spg in 19 outings during two separate stints for Colorado this season. His second stint with the 14ers was highlighted by several big games, including a 36 point (15-22 FG), nine rebound outburst at Erie on March 27.

Weems was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (39th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft before being traded to Denver for a 2009 second-round draft pick. In 10 games for the Nuggets this season, Weems has averaged 1.3 ppg in 4.1 mpg.

Anthony’s 31 points lead Nuggets past Warriors

The AP reports: After two gutty road wins, the Denver Nuggets weren’t going to let the banged-up Warriors hurt their chances for a division title. Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, Linas Kleiza had 22 and the Nuggets won their third straight with a 129-116 victory over Golden State on Saturday night. Chauncey Billups had 14 and Chris Andersen added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who maintained a 1 1/2 -game lead over Portland in the Northwest Division and have won eight of their last nine games… Jamal Crawford had 30 points and Kelenna Azubuike scored 21 for the Warriors, who have lost four straight and five of their last six.

Anthony lifts Nuggets past Kidd-less Mavs

The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony was having his way with the Dallas Mavericks all night, scoring as easily on long jumpers as he was on drives to the basket. So how come, Dirk Nowitzki wondered, the Mavs didn’t smother him with the game on the line? Anthony squirted through traffic for a go-ahead layup with 12.2 seconds left, then added a free throw in the final seconds to cap a 43-point performance that lifted the Denver Nuggets to a 103-101 victory over the Jason Kidd-less Mavericks on Friday night. “We messed up,” Nowitzki said. “They set a little screen and he came off it. That can’t happen.”

NBA rule change on too many players on court

The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.

Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.

Option 1 — Accept Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.

Option 2 — Nullify Game Action

The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.

Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:

1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.

2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.

3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.

Nuggets end Hornets 3-game win streak, 101-88

The AP reports: Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points and Denver beat New Orleans 101-88 on Wednesday night, snapping the Hornets’ three-game winning streak while gaining ground in the tight Western Conference playoff race… Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second half to help the Nuggets pull away after the game was tied with a little over 7 minutes to go in the third quarter… Chris Paul had 19 points and 13 assists, and David West scored 18 points for New Orleans (44-26), which dropped a game behind Denver (46-26) in the Western Conference standings… Hilton Armstrong and Rasual Butler each scored 10 points for New Orleans, which played an unusually sloppy game. Denver wound up converting 19 Hornets turnovers into 18 points. Paul turned the ball over six times.

Hill, Richardson lead Suns over Nuggets 118-115

The AP reports: Grant Hill hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane to break a tie with 58.6 seconds remaining, then added a free throw with 6.2 seconds left to help Phoenix extend its season-high winning streak to five games in a 118-115 victory over Denver on Monday night. “That may have been the only jumper I hit,” said Hill, who had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but also committed six turnovers… Carmelo Anthony, who led the Nuggets with 29 points, missed a 3-pointer from the left wing in the final second. Billups had 20 points… Shaquille O’Neal, who played only 24 minutes because of foul trouble, had six of his 19 points in the final 5:04, when he made four of five free throws. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and J.R. Smith 14 for Denver (45-26), who remained tied for the best start in franchise history.

Anthony leads Nuggets from behind to beat Grizz

The AP reports: The road has been unkind to the Denver Nuggets since the All-Star break, and it looked like they were headed for trouble again versus the Memphis Grizzlies. But the Nuggets turned up the defensive intensity in time, overtook the Grizzlies in the final 2:35 and defeated Memphis 111-109 on Wednesday night. “It would have been a long plane ride home thinking about this loss,” said Carmelo Anthony, who led Denver with 35 points, including the go-ahead three-point play with 33.2 remaining… The Nuggets snapped a six-game road losing streak. Chauncey Billups added 18 points and 12 assists for Denver and J.R. Smith scored 21… Rudy Gay led Memphis with 30 points. O.J. Mayo matched Warrick’s 16 points, and Mike Conley had eight points and matched his season-high with 10 assists.