Los Angeles – The Nuggets were so bad Saturday night even their flagship radio station turned them off. Seriously.
A day after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers by 18 at home, the Nuggets were hammered by them again, 112-79 at the Staples Center on Saturday night.
The Nuggets were losing by such a large margin that early in the fourth quarter KKFN 950 AM switched to the Avalanche game against Vancouver. The move was made for the Avs since their radio station, KCUV 1510 AM, was knocked off the air because of technical problems.
“That’s never happened in my 14 years here,” longtime Nuggets radio announcer Jerry Schemmel said.
Denver (25-21) has dropped two straight after winning seven in a row. The Nuggets also suffered a season-high margin of defeat and scored a season low in points.
The Nuggets’ leading scorer was Carmelo Anthony, whose 16 points were nearly nine points below his average.
“Just move on to the next one. That’s all you can really say,” Nuggets guard Andre Miller said. “The worst thing is we lost by so much. I can’t really put a finger on (one thing.)”
Said Clippers guard Sam Cassell: “We just came in with a mindframe that we just wanted to compete. That’s what we’ve done the last few games, we competed. We just want to give ourselves a chance to win ballgames down the stretch and these last two games we’ve done that.”
Los Angeles (25-16) shot 53.9 percent a day earlier in Denver, which was playing its fifth game in seven nights. The Clippers’ hot hands continued as they held a 59-41 lead at halftime after shooting 55.6 percent. Los Angeles’ backcourt of Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley combined for 26 points and four 3-pointers in the first half.
Nuggets center Marcus Camby (seven points, eight rebounds) was playing in his second game since returning from a fractured right pinkie that kept him out 15 games. Coach George Karl started Camby in the second half, but it didn’t spark Denver.
The Clippers outran the Nuggets in the third quarter a night earlier, outscoring them 24-12. And it was the third quarter again when the Nuggets stumbled.
Los Angeles held a commanding 73-46 lead Saturday after two Elton Brand free throws. Frustration started to set in for Denver after Miller was given a technical with 6:10 left in the third for knocking the ball out of Cassell’s hands on a dead ball.
Earl Watson hit a wild running 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer for the Nuggets, Denver’s only highlight of a third quarter the Clippers wrapped up with an 86-58 cushion. The Nuggets were down by as many as 29 points twice in the quarter.
With 8:49 remaining, Chris Wilcox brought the crowd to its feet with a dunk that gave the Clippers a 96-63 lead.
“When your offense and defense are struggling, I don’t know what end of the court to blame,” Karl said.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
