Look out, Charlotte.
The Nuggets have escaped the 3-point shooting cellar where they had barricaded themselves early in the season, and now stand No. 29 with a bullet and the Bobcats just ahead of them in the NBA rankings.
That was news enough to elicit this reaction from Denver coach George Karl: “Someone’s worse than we are? Who?”
The answer is Portland, by two-tenths of a percent. But the Nuggets’ still-anemic 30.7 percent clip remains an accomplishment, considering how they started.
Denver’s early long-distance shooting should have required helmets. The Nuggets connected on just 18.7 percent of their shots their first 11 games, but have nearly doubled their percentage to a steady, if not great, 35.7 percent over the past 22.
Karl said he is encouraged by the fact the 3-point shot occasionally factors into his team’s success. The Nuggets hit 7-of-15 on Wednesday in their 106-86 win over Indiana. Still, he isn’t banking on a barrage of them to rescue his team from a 20-point deficit.
“Most teams catch up with a 3 along the way,” he said. “We don’t run many plays even to get a 3. We kind of fall into our 3s.”
Karl credits guard Earl Watson for sparking a roster-wide improvement with his shooting, calling him Denver’s “life preserver.”
As former Nugget Wesley Person’s shooting did when he arrived as a free agent last February, Watson’s has proved contagious. But Person made his name as a long-distance shooter, while Watson entered this season with a career 3-point numbers just under 31 percent before jumping to 39.3 percent this season.
“I haven’t peaked yet, and that’s the most exciting thing for me,” he said.
Watson used to try only a handful of 3s a game, but now will fire whenever open. His coaches say it comes from a work ethic that has him on the court before 5 p.m. for 7 p.m. home games, well before most teammates. He takes cabs with assistants John Welch and Jamahl Mosley and little-used rookies Linas Kleiza and Julius Hodge 30 to 40 minutes before the first team bus arrives at road arenas.
“He’s one of the hardest workers in the league, not just our team,” assistant coach Scott Brooks said. “There’s no substitution for work. You can’t take a shooting pill. You can’t pray to your higher being to become a good shooter.”
Earl Boykins and Greg Buckner had more established, if still modest, track records of 3-point success before their early-season slumps. Buckner said he normally warms up as the season progresses, while Boykins, an unashamed gunner, said he never worried.
“I’ll shoot it regardless if I’m on or off,” he said.
Buckner figured that even without an all-star lineup of shooters, the law of averages had to favor the Nuggets at some point. And while ranking 29th isn’t worth celebrating, the guard can see a silver lining.
“Second to last – we’re still not going to get a lot of respect, so we’ll still get a lot of open shots,” he said.
DALLAS AT DENVER, 7 p.m.
ALT, KKFN 950 AM
SPOTLIGHT ON JERRY STACKHOUSE
A sore right knee kept the shooting guard out of the Mavericks’ first 26 games, but the linchpin of their bench is back. Dallas has gone 4-2 since Stackhouse’s return, and he is averaging 11.8 points.
NOTEBOOK
* NUGGETS DIG THE SMALL BALL: Coach George Karl continues to get comfortable with an ultra-small lineup of point guards Andre Miller, Earl Boykins and Earl Watson with shooting guard Greg Buckner and a forward. Karl doesn’t have a ton of choice at times, considering the injuries to Denver’s frontcourt players, but that lineup extended the Nuggets’ lead Wednesday night in the second half of their win over Indiana. “That little lineup with some zone (defense) has pretty consistently given us good minutes,” Karl said. The group of four averages just 6-feet, which means, Boykins said, “The hardest part is rebounding. When there’s more guards out there, there’s more yelling about rebounding. But at the offensive end, we don’t run any plays. We just try to play an up-tempo game.”
* FOOTNOTES: Speaking to The Indianapolis Star, Indiana president Donnie Walsh denied a report from Sacramento radio station KHTK that the Pacers would trade Ron Artest to Denver today, saying no trade is imminent. … Miller (flu) and Kenyon Martin (left knee) sat out a short practice Thursday, though both are expected to play tonight. … Watson has left agent Dan Fegan for Todd Ramasar. … Weather permitting, Karl hoped to attend son Coby’s conference-opening game Thursday night with Boise State against Louisiana Tech.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
