Oklahoma City – George Karl always said the Nuggets could win with a three-point-guard rotation.
He just waited until his team’s ninth game to test the theory Wednesday, and the results netted Denver a tension-breaking 91-81 victory over New Orleans/Oklahoma City before 18,442 NBA-happy fans at the Ford Center, the Hornets’ temporary home.
Andre Miller, Earl Boykins and especially the all-but-left- for-dead Earl Watson made the difference as Denver (4-5) won its first road game in five tries. The three point men combined for 35 points, 11 assists and six steals and helped hold the Hornets’ two point guards, Chris Paul and Speedy Claxton, to 6-for-23 shooting.
“Basketball is basketball,” Boykins said. “You have guys that understand the game; they can play with each other, even if they haven’t played with each other before.”
The win was sweet for Watson, who had not gotten significant playing time in a meaningful game since the playoffs last April with Memphis.
“It’s almost like a guy coming back from an injury but not being injured,” said Watson, who had 10 points, three assists and three steals. “The main thing was I just wanted to contribute, lose myself to the game so I didn’t have time to think.”
Watson entered in the second quarter with Denver down 27-22. He played the rest of the period, and the Nuggets entered halftime up five and never trailed. Soaking up time for Voshon Lenard, who did not play, Watson ended up with 21 minutes.
“He got our defense back on track,” Karl said. “He just had a solid basketball game. Maybe the game is playing more guys who know how to pass, know how to play. Right now I think we need more playmakers on the court.”
Plenty of other things went right for Denver. Despite playing his second game in two nights and the burden on him with Kenyon Martin out with a bad left knee, center Marcus Camby kept pushing himself, finishing with 15 points and 15 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Carmelo Anthony also had his best game of the season, notching four steals and a season-high 31 points. Among those points were seven in a 13-0 fourth-quarter run that iced the game after the Hornets (2-5) gave Denver flashbacks of its second-half collapse Tuesday in Dallas by pulling within two. The only thing that went wrong for Anthony was his redislocated right pinkie finger, but he said he will cope with it.
“The ball was dropping for me,” Anthony said. “Shots falling, taking good shots, getting out in the open court, getting easy baskets. My teammates found some openings to get me easy baskets.”
After criticizing Anthony’s passing in the Mavericks loss, Karl said, “He was big-time. … I thought he was making good decisions passing the ball.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
