Cincinnati – As the Nuggets ran onto the U.S. Bank Arena floor, a fan yelled out, “Where’s Melo?”
Forward Carmelo Anthony wasn’t with the Nuggets (2-1) during their 114-102 preseason victory over the Indiana Pacers (1-3) on Wednesday night because he was recovering from the removal of an infected wisdom tooth in Denver. The 2006 all-NBA third-team selection had the tooth removed in Denver on Monday. Anthony, who is averaging 23 points, is expected to meet the team in Milwaukee today, but it’s uncertain if he will practice.
“He could’ve flown here, but I guess he has a root canal where he has a dry socket where sometimes flying and exercising he has to be careful with,” coach George Karl said.
Anthony’s agent, Calvin Andrews, planned to go to the Indiana game after attending to business in Cleveland, but flew to the Bay Area instead because of the injury. Linas Kleiza (10 points, six rebounds) started at small forward in place of Anthony.
Homecoming
Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin and swingman DerMarr Johnson returned to their college town and received strong applause from their old University of Cincinnati fans. Martin finished with game-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds, but left the game in the third quarter after being kneed in the thigh.
“Cincinnati fans love their Bearcats,” Martin said. “They ride and die with us.”
Johnson had 11 points, a blocked shot and a steal in his first preseason action since re-signing Saturday. Karl said he was impressed with Johnson offensively, but not defensively.
“I played better defensively than offensively,” Johnson said. “But I guess he just said that to push me hard because I don’t see what I did wrong on defense. I got to work on everything.”
After Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins was fired last year, Martin expressed displeasure in the school and said he wanted his jersey unretired. Wednesday’s exhibition was not played at the Bearcats’ home arena.
“That was the university,” Martin said. “Cincinnati hasn’t done nothing to me but love me. I don’t have any problem with (the city). Just the president (of the school).
“They ain’t going to take (my jersey) down, so I left it alone. It’s cool. I’m not taking it out on the program.”
While Martin needed 25 tickets, Johnson only used six.
“All the people I knew were gone. My memories were just on the court, practice,” said Johnson, who played only his freshman season at Cincinnati.
Nene debut
Nuggets forward-center Nene had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and four turnovers in 22 minutes in his first NBA game since suffering a right ACL knee injury in last season’s opener. The Brazilian missed the first two preseason games with a right knee ACL sprain.
“I was all right,” Nene said. “My body’s sore. I was so nervous. (Marcus Camby) told me if I run up the floor once and back once, it will be gone. It’s a huge difference after being out a year.”
Footnotes
Said Karl on an episode of “NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad” airing Sunday: “The truth of the matter is, we have a chance of (winning a championship). My goal is to develop an organization of excellence that has a chance every year to win a championship.” … Indiana center David Harrison (seven points), a former Colorado star, said: “It’s preseason. I haven’t got consistent minutes. I’m not messing up as much as I used to. I’m getting better, progressing.” … Camby (left foot plantar fascia strain) took the game off. … After Nuggets rookie guard Yakhouba Diawara shot 0-for-5 in his first start, Karl jokingly told him he has to shoot 1,000 jumpers as soon as the team lands in Milwaukee to find his shot.
Indiana 26 25 26 25 – 102
Denver 26 28 24 36 – 114
INDIANA (102)
Harrington 2-7 3-3 7, O’Neal 3-8 0-0 6, Foster 3-7 0-0 6, Jackson 6-13 0-0 13, Jasikevicius 3-7 1-1 9, Armstrong 4-4 0-0 10, White 3-7 0-0 7, Granger 0-7 2-4 2, Harrison 3-3 1-3 7, Baston 2-2 1-1 5, Powell 3-5 6-6 12, Hunter 3-6 2-4 8, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Marshall 2-5 4-5 8. Totals 38-82 20-27 102.
DENVER (114)
Kleiza 2-7 6-8 10, Nene 3-4 3-6 9, Martin 7-13 5-8 20, Miller 3-5 7-7 13, Diawara 0-5 0-0 0, Evans 3-6 1-1 7, Johnson 5-11 0-0 11, Boykins 4-10 3-4 11, J.R. Smith 3-9 3-4 9, Jo. Smith 1-1 4-4 6, Najera 5-7 1-2 12, Carter 2-5 1-1 6. Totals 38-83 34-45 114.
3-point goals – Indiana 6-17 (Armstrong 2-2, Jasikevicius 2-4, White 1-1, Jackson 1-3, Marshall 0-1, Hunter 0-1, Harrington 0-2, Granger 0-3), Denver 4-20 (Martin 1-2, Najera 1-2, Carter 1-2, Johnson 1-5, Boykins 0-1, J.R. Smith 0-2, Kleiza 0-3, Diawara 0-3). Fouled out – Baston, Jo. Smith. Rebounds – Indiana 53 (Powell 8), Denver 54 (Martin 8). Assists – Indiana 22 (Jasikevicius 4), Denver 19 (Miller 7). Total fouls – Indiana 38, Denver 24. Technicals – Indiana, defensive three-second 2, Denver, defensive three-second. Flagrant foul – Baston.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
