The Nuggets would seem hard-pressed to make up for the loss of Kenyon Martin and Nene. But somehow, Marcus Camby appeared to fill the big-man void by himself.
Camby had 18 points, 22 rebounds and a season-high seven blocked shots during the Nuggets’ 102-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night at the Pepsi Center. Camby was one of five Nuggets who scored in double figures. Denver (3-4) has won three straight at the Pepsi Center.
“He’s playing unbelievable basketball right now,” Nuggets guard Earl Boykins said of Camby. “He’s definitely one of the top four or five players in the league if he continues to play this way. He’s basically our anchor.”
Said Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, “In my eyes, he’s an all-star center.”
Camby has five double-doubles for the young season and has averaged 19.3 points, 16.6 rebounds and five blocked shots in the past three games. The nine-year NBA veteran spent time guarding eight-time NBA all-star Kevin Garnett, who was limited to two points below his scoring average with 19.
“Coach was a little upset at shootaround and really lit into us about how poor defensively we were playing,” Camby said. “Me being a defensive player, I kind of took it to heart. I felt that he was trying to challenge me a little bit out there.
“So I tried to come out here, be more assertive, tried to be there on the weak side when my teammates needed help. I think everybody followed suit.”
All by himself, Camby outrebounded the Wolves 14-13 in the first half.
“He was good, man,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “That was fun to watch. He’s had three or four of them all year where he was a dominant player around the basket. His offense has improved. I thought he showed he was a class player on the court. When you’re playing against Kevin Garnett, I think it was a pretty impressive performance. And we needed it.”
Camby’s timing was great for the Nuggets, because Martin, their starting power forward, missed his first game of the season with soreness in his left knee. Francisco Elson started in place of Martin, but did not score and had four fouls in 12 minutes, 41 seconds of playing time. The Nuggets are also without forward-center Nene for the season since he suffered a knee injury in the season opener.
“I just tried to step up my level of play, just tried to will my team to a victory,” Camby said.
A lot of Camby’s teammates stepped up their play against Minnesota (3-3), too.
DerMarr Johnson replaced shooting guard Voshon Lenard in the Nuggets’ starting lineup and scored a season-high 17 points, making 3-of-5 3-point attempts. Denver made 58.3 percent of its 3-pointers (7-of-12) after entering the game at a 16.4 percent clip.
“I’m always pretty confident,” Johnson said. “I just needed to get the opportunity.”
Anthony entered the game averaging 17.2 points and had been stymied by triple-teams and an injured right pinky finger. But despite getting accidentally kicked in the left eye by Garnett, Anthony tied a season high with 23 points and grabbed six rebounds.
“I’ve been with some of these guys for three years,” he said. “I pretty much know how they play and how they can pick it up on any given night.”
The Nuggets led 48-41 at halftime after shooting 57.1 percent. Anthony scored nine points in the third quarter to push Denver ahead 72-60. And Boykins stepped up in the fourth by scoring 12 of his 16 points, including two 3-pointers.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
