Carmelo Anthony hit the floor three times in the final minutes of the Nuggets’ 139-137 triple-overtime win over Phoenix on Tuesday night – first in pain, then in joy, then in relief.
The pain came when he took an inadvertent knee from teammate Eduardo Najera across the bridge of his nose with 2:42 left in the final session. Anthony stayed motionless on the court for more than a minute, but missed no game time.
The joy came with 2.9 seconds left in a game in which he played nearly 52 minutes and scored 43 points. With a huge wad of cotton sticking out of his left nostril, Anthony canned a 19-foot jump shot to give his team the final advantage in a game that saw 32 lead changes and 25 ties. Anthony rolled backward into the Pepsi Center’s courtside seats before his teammates picked him up to celebrate.
The relief came at the final buzzer – the seventh of the night. Anthony lay on his back next to Najera, lying on his belly, both completely spent.
Despite the hit, Anthony said his vision was clear and nothing was broken as Phoenix gave him surprising room to hit his second consecutive game-winner.
“The goal was big,” he said. “Even though I got smacked in my face, I wanted to win.”
“There was so much blood, I thought it was broke,” Denver guard Earl Watson said of Anthony’s nose. “Then he came back in less than two minutes and hit the game-winner. Most guys go into the locker room and ice it. He’s a warrior.”
It was Phoenix’s second triple-overtime loss in nine days, but the Nuggets’ first triple-OT game since Nov. 15, 1995 – also against Phoenix. In winning its first overtime game in five tries this season and halting a five-game skid to the Suns, Denver (18-18) returned to .500 by repeatedly making up for its own mistakes.
A 12-2 Phoenix run punctuated by two of Raja Bell’s eight 3-pointers gave the guests at 72-63 third-quarter lead, their biggest of the night. But Denver held the Suns (22-12) to 7-for-21 shooting in the final period to turn the tide.
The Nuggets even grabbed a 106-104 lead with 59.1 seconds left, but Andre Miller’s missed free throw, coupled with Shawn Marion’s easy dunk with 35.4 seconds left, tied the game again at 106. Marion’s jumper from the wing at the buzzer missed, forcing overtime.
It was far from Denver coach George Karl’s first extra-long game.
“The biggest thing is to keep your bladder under control,” he joked while citing the hard work of Anthony, Earl Boykins and Eduardo Najera, among others.
Anthony had 14 points in the three extra sessions, plus 11 rebounds. Boykins scored 13 of his career-high 33 in the overtimes, though his made free-throws streak died at 42. Najera contributed 13 points, nine rebounds, two key blocked shots and countless picks.
Before fouling out with 35.6 seconds left in the game on light contact with Miller, Phoenix guard Steve Nash had 26 points and 13 assists.
Without Nash or Boris Diaw, who fouled out, Phoenix found itself short on ball-handlers at the end after playing just a seven-man bench. Reserve Eddie House tied the game for the 25th time on a long jumper with 12.5 seconds left that was first ruled a 3-pointer before officials changed the call. House’s final 3-point try in the ultimate moments missed to end the game.
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or at athompson@denverpost.com.
