Sacramento, Calif. – As stretches of futility go, the Nuggets can’t approach anything Chicago baseball teams have to offer.
Still, their historical hodophobia – fear of travel – bears mentioning. In 29 NBA seasons, no Denver team has won more road games than it has lost.
But as the Nuggets prepared for a preseason game at Sacramento’s Arco Arena on Tuesday, they could point to one statistic that gave them reason for optimism. The team never has surpassed the 19 road games out of 41 it won in 1987-88. But after coach George Karl took over last year, Denver went 13-7 in less than half a season.
“Once George got there, everything changed,” guard Earl Boykins said. “We got much more confident and focused, and began to play better.”
Unaware of his team’s road history before Tuesday, forward Carmelo Anthony said he hopes to help break that streak.
“If we’ve got a winning road record, that’s a good sign … to where we’re headed,” he said.
Added Boykins: “I think that would be huge. Over the past few years we’ve played pretty well at home. Actually, that’s what got us into the playoffs lately. I think if we want to take it to the next level, we have to become a better road team than we’ve been in the past.”
Karl has an informal formula for what makes a successful season. He aims to win at least 30 of the 41 home games, then try to win about half of the 41 away dates.
“We did that in Seattle, won (at least) 50 six years, and a couple of times we were having a ‘bad’ year,” he said. “You can’t have a bad year if you win over 50 games in this league. Most people are doing their jobs and their responsibilities very well if you win 50 games in this league.”
Anthony leads charge
Despite shortages in their frontcourt, the Nuggets topped Sacramento 102-99. Anthony led the Nuggets with 20 points and made a game- clinching steal. Denver improved to 2-1 in the preseason.
The Nuggets played without Marcus Camby (left plantar fasciitis), Kenyon Martin (left knee), Nene (right hamstring) and Greg Buckner (groin). Andre Miller arrived at the arena about 15 minutes before tipoff after spending parts of Monday and Tuesday in Denver for personal reasons. He had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
“It was sloppy, but we competed,” said Karl, whose team committed 20 turnovers. “We competed very hard defensively, and we held a good offensive team to 41 percent (shooting).”
Karl backs Hodge
Karl said the Nuggets would try to keep things normal for rookie guard Julius Hodge in light of the accusation that he attempted to sexually assault a woman last week. No charges have been filed.
“Until anything really gets serious, I think right now we’re in a speculative game,” Karl said. “We’re going to support him. It’s a tough thing being like that for anybody. We just want to give him a family support and let it be known that we’re there for him if he wants to talk. I think some of the players already have talked to him.”
Hodge declined to comment Tuesday. He did not play Tuesday, but Karl said that was largely because of the rotation he had set for the game.
DENVER (102)
Anthony 7-11 5-5 20, Najera 2-3 0-0 4, Elson 3-6 0-1 6, Lenard 7-13 2-3 16, Watson 4-6 0-0 10, Kleiza 3-7 0-0 6, Boykins 5-10 2-3 13, Johnson 3-7 4-5 11, A. Miller 1-7 8-11 10, Chenowith 2-5 2-4 6, Pope 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-75 23-32 102.
SACRAMENTO (99)
Stojakovic 5-12 6-7 18, Abdur-Rahim 1-4 8-9 10, B. Miller 7-10 2-2 17, Wells 6-10 0-0 12, Bibby 1-9 2-2 4, Hart 3-9 3-4 9, Thomas 3-7 4-4 10, Kev. Martin 0-1 1-1 1, Garcia 3-9 0-0 7, Skinner 2-3 3-4 7, Williamson 1-3 2-2 4, Price 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-78 31-35 99.
Denver 24 28 23 27 – 102
Sacramento 26 20 29 24 – 99
3-point goals – Denver 5-10 (Watson 2-3, Anthony 1-1, Boykins 1-1, Johnson 1-4, Lenard 0-1), Sacramento 4-17 (Stojakovic 2-7, B. Miller 1-1, Garcia 1-6, Bibby 0-1, Hart 0-1, Price 0-1). Fouled out – Elson, Najera, Kev. Martin. Rebounds – Denver 53 (A. Miller 7), Sacramento 44 (Thomas 6). Assists – Denver 18 (A. Miller 4), Sacramento 22 (Bibby 9). Total fouls – Denver 30, Sacramento 27. Technical fouls – Denver defensive three-second 2, Anthony, Sacramento defensive three-second, Abdur-Rahim, Garcia. A – 17,317 (17,317).
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
