Los Angeles – It’s hard to gauge which was greater: the Nuggets’ drop in optimism from the start of the season to the playoffs, or the drop from the start of their first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers to the quick-arriving end.
The Clippers rubber-stamped Denver’s early exit from the playoffs Monday night with a 101-83 victory at the Staples Center, clinching the series 4-1 and barely seeming to sweat most of the way.
“The whole series was kind of an embarrassing moment,” Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said. “They didn’t just beat us by two or three points in the games that they won. They beat us by like 20. That’s embarrassing.
“I think they played a more team game than we did. Hopefully my teammates take what they did as an insult.”
While the Clippers await either their crosstown rival Lakers or Phoenix, the Nuggets face a summer full of questions, starting with whether general manager Kiki Vandeweghe returns.
Owner Stan Kroenke would not address Vandeweghe’s situation or anything else, but when asked if this season was a disappointment, he replied, “Obviously.”
Also up in the air is whether they keep disgruntled forward Kenyon Martin, who did not make the trip for the third game of what turned out to be a season-ending team suspension for his outburst at coach George Karl at halftime of Game 2.
“Any time you have coaches versus players, people are going to take sides,” said Anthony who finished with 23 points. “Some people took George’s side. Some people took K-Mart’s side. The decision was made.
“I would have said let him play, but I didn’t have nothing to do with that.”
The Nuggets appeared to end their season without a fraction of the confidence they entered it with, losing eight of their last nine after clinching the Northwest Division, the NBA’s weakest.
A team expecting to go deep into the playoffs instead went out in five games for the third straight season – against a team that players and coaches labeled as clearly inferior to their previous postseason opponents. Karl entered the playoffs calling the series a toss-up.
What happened to the Nuggets on Monday was little different from what happened to them for the past nine days. They shot horribly – 37 percent from the field and 4-for-12 from 3-point range – found their rat-a-tat-tat running game muffled and had no luck establishing any kind of post presence.
One third-quarter play, in the middle of a 20-3 Clippers run to put the game away, typified the game and series for Anthony. Driving to the basket, he slipped as he spun trying to avoid the umpteenth double team the Clippers threw at him, banging the back of his head on the floor.
Anthony had another night of ugly shooting, going 8-for-24, as his team, which averaged 100.3 points in the regular season, failed to score more than 94 in the series.
His frustration reached a point where he drew a technical foul in the fourth quarter for elbowing Vladimir Radmanovic and later could be seen screaming and pointing at a scoreboard that showed L.A. up by 22 during a timeout. Anthony stayed on the floor to the game’s final buzzer, though it was over long before. The Clippers led by as many as 25 points.
“I don’t think we even played playoff basketball,” Anthony said. “We were out there losing by 20, 25 points like it was preseason or regular season. Guys weren’t carrying out there.”
Cuttino Mobley and Corey Maggette each scored 23 points and Elton Brand 21 points with 13 rebounds for L.A., which advanced in the playoffs for the first time since arriving in California and the first time as a franchise since the team was known as the Buffalo Braves in 1976.
The Nuggets signified right away that they were not over their shooting yips. The Clippers built a quick 13-8 lead as Denver hit just three of its first 13 shots. The Nuggets did find their sea legs for a while after that, but the Clippers went on a 13-2 run from there and headed into the locker room with a 46-40 lead.
Andre Miller’s 13 first-half points kept Denver in the game, which the Nuggets trailed by one just before L.A.’s long run. The point guard closed his season with 15 points and eight assists, and Greg Buckner scored 20.
“We were an in-and-out team, a good and bad team for most of the season. That’s how we basically played the playoffs,” Karl said. “We were good for quarters and sometimes halves and we were bad for quarters and sometimes halves.
“Inconsistency doesn’t build. It doesn’t progress. It is actually better if you’re average. Consistency would be better than good and bad, because good and bad creates too much turmoil, up-and-down and emotional roller coaster.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
