Orlando, Fla. – On March 10, 1992, Carmelo Anthony was a 7-year-old growing up in Baltimore, Marcus Camby was a high school star in Hartford, Conn., and George Karl was coaching the Seattle SuperSonics. That also was the last time the Nuggets won a road game against the Orlando Magic.
The Nuggets snapped a three-game winning streak Wednesday night with a 108-99 loss to the Magic at the TD Waterhouse Centre, losing for the 14th consecutive time in Orlando. To make matters worse, Denver learned before the game that starting power forward Kenyon Martin will be out for the season after having right knee surgery.
“We can’t win out here,” Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony said. “Even my AAU team couldn’t win out here.”
Anthony continued his strong scoring with 34 points, including 16-of-19 shooting on free throws. He has scored at least 30 points in the past five games.
Denver (3-4) completed the four- game road trip at 3-1. When asked how he would grade the trip, Nuggets coach Karl said: “An ‘A.’ But it was disappointing tonight. We had a four-point game with a layup and didn’t get it. A lot of things can get better. A lot of things can improve. This trip we showed that and we can’t stop now.”
Behind Anthony’s 20 first-half points, the Nuggets went into halftime ahead 51-50. Denver got a boost from 15 fast- break points to none for Orlando.
The Magic, however, outscored the Nuggets 29-23 in the third quarter to take a 79-74 lead. Anthony’s 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the game trimmed the Nuggets’ deficit to 97-93, and J.R. Smith’s 3-pointer cut Orlando’s lead to 98-96 with 2:54 to play.
After a botched Denver layup, a frustrated Smith was called for a technical foul by referee Bill Kennedy with 1:07 remaining after Smith slammed the ball to the floor. Denver was down 101-97 at the time. Smith said he accidentally tossed the ball after he slipped.
“I wasn’t upset,” Smith said. “I slipped.”
Grant Hill made the free throw to give Orlando a 102-97 lead. After the Magic won a jump ball, Keyon Dooling put the game away with a layup with 1:03 left to leave Denver trailing 104-97.
“I didn’t know they hadn’t won here since ’92,” said Dooling, who led the Magic with 25 points. “In ’92, I was 12 years old. I was watching Shaq.”
