The AP reports: “Everybody was excited to see Nene back out there, just to see him back in his uniform, seeing him smile again after the stuff he’s been through,” said Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 points and keyed the decisive run in the Nuggets’ fourth straight win. Nene had been out since Jan. 11, and it’s been just over a month since he underwent chemotherapy… Anthony also chipped in 10 boards and eight assists, helping Denver overcame a 30-point night by Josh Howard and 19 points and 15 assists from Jason Kidd… Kidd was left unguarded on the left elbow and swished a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 79-71 lead. The Nuggets responded with an 18-2 run, with Anthony scoring half of the points.
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Mar. 24: Nuggets 120, Grizzlies 106
The AP reports: Allen Iverson had 26 points and seven assists, while Carmelo Anthony finished with 23 points and nine rebounds as the Nuggets used a big second half to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 120-106 on Monday night. “We wanted to end this road trip the right way,” said Marcus Camby, who had 15 rebounds… J.R. Smith led the Nuggets, scoring 25 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, as Denver stretched the lead to as many as 22 in winning its third straight. Smith was 8-of-10 in the period, including seven outside the arc. “Amazing,” said Kenyon Martin, who missed only one of his eight shots while recording 14 points and 10 rebounds… Rudy Gay led Memphis with 30 points, while Hakim Warrick finished with a season-high 29. Mike Miller added 19 and Javaris Crittenton 14.
Around the league
Teams are averaging 99.6 points through games played March 23. Last year to date, teams were averaging 98.7 points. Teams have averaged triple-digit scoring each of the last five weeks. The last time the league had five straight weeks with an average of at least 100 points was the start of the 1995-1996 season.
Phoenix has won seven straight games, the longest active win streak in the NBA. During that stretch, Phoenix has held its opponents to a combined .423 field goal percentage while shooting .557.
On the season, Philadelphia is averaging 96.5 points on .460 shooting. Over the past 22 games (17-5), however, the Sixers are averaging 102.0 points on .483 shooting from the floor.
Denver is averaging 118.6 points during its last 14 games (9-5), which includes a non-overtime franchise record 168 points vs. Seattle March 16. Denver tallied 663 total points in five games (March 14-)21, the highest point total in five straight games since Chicago scored 668 points over a five-game span in 1990.
Houston’s Rick Adelman has 799 coaching victories. He could record win No. 800 vs. his former team when the Rockets host the Sacramento Kings tonight. Adelman coached the Kings to a franchise-record 359 wins (1998-2006). Adelman (799-513, .614), the sixth-winningest active coach (behind Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and George Karl) is looking to become only the 13th coach in NBA history to win 800 games.
Adelman, who is on pace for his 10th 50-win season as a head coach, oversees a Rockets roster that contains six players with D-League experience, the second-most D-League-laden roster in the league. The six Rockets with D-League experience are: Rafer Alston, Aaron Brooks, Mike Harris, Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak and Loren Woods. The Miami Heat has eight players with D-League experience.
LeBron James became Cleveland’s all-time leading scorer after netting 29 points in Friday’s 90-83 win over Toronto. James, who now has 10,443 points, surpassed the franchise mark held by Brad Daugherty. Daugherty finished his Cavs career with 10,389 points.
– NBA News
Bosh rocks but Nuggets handle Raptors
The AP reports: Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony kept Denver’s offense in high gear, but it was Kenyon Martin’s defense that had coach George Karl talking. Iverson had 36 points, Anthony added 33 and Martin shut down Toronto all-star Chris Bosh late as Denver rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 109-100 on Sunday afternoon… J.R. Smith scored 14 points and Marcus Camby had 15 rebounds as Denver rallied from a 17-point first-quarter deficit to win for the fifth time in seven games… While he faded in the fourth, Chris Bosh shone through the first three quarters, finishing one assist shy of a triple-double. Bosh had 17 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high nine assists, but Toronto still lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Allen Iverson to play despite broken finger
X-rays taken in San Antonio this morning revealed a small, non-displaced fracture on the end of Allen Iverson’s right ring finger.
Iverson will continue to play with the injury, which he originally suffered against the Spurs on March 8.
The Nuggets are in San Antonio to play the Spurs tonight at 6:30 p.m. MDT.
Nene to have one chemotherapy treatment
Denver Nuggets F Nenê will undergo one treatment of chemotherapy on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The treatment is preventative and essentially eliminates the odds of a recurrence.
Following chemotherapy, Nenê will have a short period of recovery, after which he is cleared by physicians to begin working his way back to the court. However, there remains no exact timetable for his return.
Nenê had surgery on Jan. 15 to remove a malignant testicular tumor and has been out since taking a medical leave of absence on Jan. 11.
Nuggets likely keeping Linas Kleiza
The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: With the NBA trade deadline at 1 p.m. MST Thursday, Nuggets coach George Karl called it a “1 percent chance” Kleiza will be moved. Karl said he’s “betting” against the Nuggets making any trade.
Kleiza, who returned after being hurt in the first half Tuesday against Boston and is expected to play Friday at Chicago, has been a possibility to be dealt with forward Eduardo Najera to Sacramento for forward Ron Artest.
Nuggets 2008-09 ticket prices
The Denver Nuggets today announced ticket prices for the 2008-09 season. The Nuggets will continue to be near the middle of the NBA in average ticket price ($61.50), despite playing in a privately-funded arena with a capacity in the bottom half of the league. This is just the 10th time the Nuggets have adjusted ticket prices since 1988 and over 500 seats remain unchanged.
“This price adjustment is needed to continue to provide a competitive product at a fair price in the ultra-tough Western Conference,” said Paul Andrews, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Kroenke Sports Enterprises. “We will remain near the middle of the pack in the NBA and this will help us as we strive towards our goal of winning an NBA championship.”
The Nuggets are one of only six teams in the NBA to qualify for the playoffs in each of the last four seasons and have a roster featuring two NBA All-Star starters (Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson) and the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year (Marcus Camby).
One third of seats in the Pepsi Center will be priced at $22 or less, including the $10 seats which remained flat. The Nuggets will also continue to offer popular ticket promotions such as Denver Post Family Nights (4 tickets, 4 Pepsis, 4 Digiorno’s Pizzas and a $10 ESPN Zone card for $59), Coors Light Guys Night Out (2 tickets, 2 Coors Light beers, 2 guys night out t-shirts) and Pepsi Youth Nights (kids 14-and-under free with a paid adult on select games) and Rocky’s Den (day of game seats for only $5 in this area).
Season ticket holders who renew will receive a price lock on their seats for the 2008 NBA Playoffs, from the First Round to the Conference Finals. New season ticket buyers who purchase before April 1, 2008 will receive a great seat location and the price lock for the playoffs as well.
Suns, Nuggets to play NBA game outdoors
The NBA’s first outdoor game of the modern era will take place when the Phoenix Suns host the Denver Nuggets in a preseason game on Saturday, October 11 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, CA. The 16,000-seat stadium is an NBA-style arena with no roof located in a spectacular desert setting. The venue annually plays host to one of the world’s major tennis tournaments, the Pacific Life Open.
Full story is here.
Melo talks West trades
Denver Nuggets All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony spoke on Friday:
Q: What are your thoughts on all of the trades that are taking place in the West?
Carmelo Anthony: I’m just waiting for my phone to ring and see what we are going to do. The West is getting back to the way it used to be. The Western Conference race is tough right now even for us because we are in the ninth spot I think, so we are trying for eighth. It’s going to come down to the last game in the season I can tell you that. Every team in the West has a chance to make the playoffs. We might do something before the deadline and we might not. If we don’t, I’m going to roll with what we’ve got. Right now I love the team that we have. I think anything we get will be a plus. I think with the team we have right now we can do a lot of things.
Also, Melo is picking Rudy Gay to win the Slam Dunk contest, but possibly only because Gay is from Baltimore, so it may just be a biased pick.
More from Carmelo Anthony here.