When coach George Karl wrote “110 points” on the Nuggets’ Pepsi Center locker room dry-erase board, it’s fair to assume that wasn’t a defensive goal Monday night.
But that’s the ugly number Milwaukee reached in Denver’s first game with new acquisitions Ruben Patterson and Reggie Evans, who were imported to infuse defense, rebounding and all-around energy. The final score of 110-89 speaks for itself about how much changed.
The Bucks put together a mammoth first half, which saw them outscore Denver 69-45, a season high for a Nuggets opponent in a half. Denver managed just one fast-break point in the first half as Milwaukee (29-28) shot 57.7 percent and added 16 points off misses with nine offensive rebounds.
None of which pleased Karl.
“It was just a whipping,” he said. “There is no one on our team, coaching staff, anybody, who should be proud of what happened tonight. Disappointing, frustrating. I thought the exact opposite was going to happen. I thought we were going to come out with some energy and pizzazz.”
Nuggets guard Andre Miller added: “It was bad. Can’t say how bad it was on camera. But it was pretty bad.”
Michael Redd led six Bucks in double figures with 24 points as Milwaukee beat its former coach for the first time since Karl joined Denver. The Bucks outscored Denver 27-3 from 3-point range, an area where the Nuggets still appear to need help.
Small forward Carmelo Anthony scored a quiet 19 points, including just four in the second half, to lead the Nuggets (30-27), who have dropped four of seven home games. Anthony left the locker room without saying a word.
Karl called the continuing struggles at home the most disappointing aspect of the loss. Defense continues to plague Denver home and away. Power forward Kenyon Martin called it “nonexistent” Monday.
“It’s a problem,” said Martin, who came off the bench for the second straight game. “It needs to be addressed. Certain games we have it. Certain games we don’t. That’s been the tale of our season.”
Karl added that while he tried to keep things simple for the new guys, the old hands did not look like they understood the team’s pick-and-roll coverage, either.
It didn’t take long for Patterson to diagnose his new team’s problems: “Guys weren’t helping. Weren’t rotating. They outrebounded us. It was just unbelievable.”
Denver’s newest players all participated. Patterson, who said he appreciated the standing ovation he received from many fans, had eight points and two steals and started the second half. Evans had eight rebounds, and Charles Smith went scoreless in two late minutes.
“I’m just now getting here, so you don’t want to say too much. You kind of just want to take your time getting in the groove with your teammates,” Evans said.
Nuggets veterans agreed it would take time to blend in the new players. They also agreed another effort like this one Wednesday against a stellar Detroit team will not fly.
“We play the way we did tonight, we’re going to lose by 50,” Miller said.
