Auburn Hills, Mich. – The Nuggets won’t be able to get much rest or practice during a busy week of exhibition games as the regular season nears.
After defeating Detroit 124-105 in the second game of a back-to-back Sunday, Nuggets coach George Karl gave the team today off.
That’s because Denver hosts Utah on Tuesday before back-to-back games in Los Angeles against the Lakers and Clippers Thursday and Friday, squeezed between a travel day Wednesday.
“Most of our work will come during shoot-around,” Karl said. “I’d much rather cancel a couple of games and practice.”
With most of training camp spent on learning the new offense and very little time on defense, the Nuggets gave up 76 first-half points at Milwaukee on Saturday in a 119-108 loss.
But the Nuggets held the Pistons to just 48 points in the first half Sunday to take a 15-point lead en route to finishing the three-game road trip on a high note as seven players scored in double figures.
“Our team usually responds pretty well,” Karl said. “They’re competitive people. We watched some film this morning (Sunday). In a lot of our exhibition games we’ve been good and we’ve been bad, but most of our bad had been not controlling our offensive mistakes. This was the first time we didn’t have a lot of turnovers.”
Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup against the Pistons after having a wisdom tooth pulled and scored 13 points. Kenyon Martin, who missed the Milwaukee game with a left-quad contusion, also was back in the lineup to score a team-high 19. Nene had a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 12 boards.
Forward Joe Smith missed the game with a right eyelid laceration suffered at Milwaukee. Center Marcus Camby dressed but didn’t play because of plantar fascia in his left foot.
Billups adjusting
Denver native and Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups, MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals and one of the Pistons’ tri-captains, is in the last year of his contract. He said over the weekend that he wouldn’t deal with his contract until after the season. For now he’s dealing with the departure of friend and center Ben Wallace, who bolted to Chicago after a late-season feud with coach Flip Saunders and what he termed a low-ball contract offer from the Pistons.
“As a friend and a teammate I’m going to miss Ben,” Billups said. “We lost our captain and one of our main leaders. It really doesn’t change my situation. I was a leader since I’ve been here and I hope to continue to be a leader.”
Waiting game
There are 15 players on the Denver training camp roster with guaranteed contracts and two – point guard Anthony Carter and Antoine Hood – without.
Carter is a veteran journeyman point guard while Hood is likely to be gone by the end of camp.
“I don’t know what kind of timetable management has for roster moves,” Karl said. “Every player that is still here has earned the right to be here so I don’t know if there’s a hurry to make a move or not.”
Denver 32 31 30 31 – 124
Detroit 23 25 24 33 – 105
DENVER (124)
Anthony 6-15 0-1 13, Martin 8-15 3-4 19, Nene 4-7 6-8 14, J. Smith 5-11 2-2 15, Miller 3-8 0-0 6, Diawara 3-6 0-0 8, Evans 2-4 1-3 5, Boykins 5-13 6-6 17, Najera 4-6 1-2 10, Kleiza 3-7 4-4 12, Carter 1-1 0-0 2, Sampson 0-0 1-2 1, Hood 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 45-94 24-32 124.
DETROIT (105)
Prince 5-8 2-2 12, Wallace 2-6 0-0 4, Mohammed 7-11 2-4 16, Hamilton 3-4 2-2 8, Billups 0-5 1-2 1, Murray 3-13 2-3 9, McDyess 2-3 1-2 5, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Delfino 1-7 0-2 3, Maxiell 7-12 7-10 21, Blalock 0-1 3-4 3, A.Johnson 5-7 5-6 15, Dupree 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 39-83 25-37 105.
3-point goals -Denver 10-25 (J.Smith 3-7, Kleiza 2-3, Diawara 2-5, Najera 1-1, Anthony 1-2, Boykins 1-3, Martin 0-2, Miller 0-2), Detroit 2-13 (Murray 1-3, Delfino 1-5, Hamilton 0-1, Prince 0-1, Billups 0-3). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Denver 54 (Nene 12), Detroit 59 (Mohammed 12). Assists – Denver 28 (Miller 8), Detroit 27 (Billups 5). Total fouls – Denver 27, Detroit 25. Technicals – Denver defensive three-second, Evans, Davis. A – 15,810. (22,076).
