San Antonio – Commissioner David Stern handed the San Antonio Spurs their championship rings Tuesday on the NBA’s opening night. Then the Spurs handed the Nuggets a reminder of how they earned their jewelry and why they might expect more in a 102-91 decision at the SBC Center.
The Nuggets may be on the rise in the Western Conference, but the Spurs showed again there is no cooler fourth-quarter customer in the league.
Trailing by as many as nine points and down three early in the fourth quarter, San Antonio entered the quarter shooting 42.2 percent. But the Spurs made 13 of their 16 fourth-quarter shots – 81.3 percent – to pull away.
Meanwhile, as they return to the Pepsi Center for their home opener against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, the Nuggets already face some unknowns.
First, they must learn the status of forward Nene, who went down hard in the first quarter with what was initially diagnosed as a sprained anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
They also must check on forward Kenyon Martin, who knocked his surgically repaired left knee with Michael Finley late in the fourth quarter and briefly left the game.
“I don’t know how my leg is going to feel in the morning,” said Martin, who scored 19 points. “If I can walk, I’m going to play.”
Spurs guard Tony Parker went 7-for-7 in the fourth quarter on his way to a game-high 26 points, helping his team to a comeback victory. He credited former Nuggets assistant coach Chip Engelland, now with the Spurs, for his improved shooting touch.
“There’s a reason why they’re special, and fourth-quarter basketball usually proves that,” said Scott Brooks, Denver’s acting head coach, in for the suspended George Karl. “They execute great down the stretch, they usually don’t make a lot of defensive errors, and when you do they usually punish you.”
Nuggets center Marcus Camby agreed. “They executed like champions down the stretch,” he said.
As Parker lit up Denver, offseason acquisition Earl Watson, brought in specifically to defend players like Parker, never made it off the bench. Asked if he was upset about not playing, Watson said, “‘Upset’ right now is a negative word. It’s just an obstacle.”
Parker and the rest of the core of the team that eliminated Denver in the first round of the playoffs last spring has returned and reloaded. Role players Nick Van Exel, Fabricio Oberto and Finley, a former all-star who scored 14 of his 16 points in the final quarter, contributed.
“It is nice to have him on our side now,” Spurs star Tim Duncan, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, said of Finley.
The Nuggets did not seem the least bit bothered by the hostile surroundings. Small forward Carmelo Anthony in particular looked much fiercer against a team that handled him often in his first two seasons. He repeatedly willed his way to the basket, finishing with 23 points (10-of-17 shooting) and eight rebounds.
“That was my goal, man – attack, attack,” he said. “I just tried to settle too much out there (in the past). I tried to take what they was giving me tonight. They were pushing up at me, sending two or three people, so I had to take what they was giving me.”
Brooks assessed the performance by saying, “It took him a couple of years to figure it out. That’s not easy. Hakeem Ola- juwon, I played with him (in Houston), and it took him eight years to figure out the double team. When he did, we took off.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
