If the Nuggets win eight of the 15 games they play without Carmelo Anthony, coach George Karl vows not to complain. In fact, he may even rejoice a bit. Quietly.
The Nuggets have lost three consecutive games and are playing disjointed basketball that features one to three quarters of good offense, maybe a little defense sprinkled in, and hot-and-cold execution.
They are 3-4 in games Anthony and J.R. Smith have missed because of suspensions. Anthony has eight more games to serve, Smith three.
If the Nuggets were treading water in the shallow end of the pool through the first seven games of the suspensions, they are about to be pushed into deep water. Games against Washington, Sacramento, Boston, Seattle, New Orleans, Dallas and Philadelphia fade into contests against the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Houston (twice), Portland and Cleveland.
Only two of the Nuggets’ past seven opponents had winning records going into Wednesday’s games. Of the Nuggets’ next seven opponents, all have winning records except Portland.
And to top that off, Karl and the suspended Anthony say the Nuggets (16-13) lack a key ingredient.
“As a team, our confidence is down,” Anthony said Wednesday. “This game is all about confidence.”
Said Karl: “My big thing is to keep them positive and figure out how to win games. I told you that from when the suspensions happened that I had no idea how we’re going to win games. It’s basketball, we’ve got some great players. We’ve just got to figure out how to make the team function, how to lift guys up.”
Karl put a stop to the 15-game playoff talk he initiated at the start of the stretch without Anthony, who is scheduled to return with his 31.6 scoring average on Jan. 22 in a home game against Memphis.
“I don’t think we ever think about that as a playoff series,” Karl said. “We think about the next game and the adjustments. Once it’s over, it’s over, you leave it alone and go ahead. We just kind of want to get through it and win. I think it’s realistic for us to try to go 8-7.”
Getting to eight wins requires the Nuggets to win five of the remaining eight of Anthony’s suspension, which seems like a lot to ask after their woeful showing Tuesday against Philadelphia, which improved to 9-22 by beating Denver 108-97 at the Pepsi Center. Anthony, watching games from his house, said he feels like the team’s struggles are “my fault” and he’s getting antsy to return.
“My days are getting long,” Anthony said. “Instead of 24 hours, it seems like 50 hours.”
Anthony isn’t the only one. Karl has said games feel longer with a short bench. Denver’s young players are being forced into major minutes and key situations they may not be ready for. Veterans have been asked to assume more on-court responsibilities.
“You try not to think about it because it’s only going to frustrate you knowing you got two guys that are a major part of the team not being there,” Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said. “It’s frustrating when you think about that. You try to just concentrate on the personnel that we have, but I think it’s going to make us just that much more better till we get (them) back.”
Footnotes
The league office is reviewing Iverson’s postgame comments Tuesday about referee Steve Javie to determine what punishment, if any, is necessary. Iverson said Javie’s “fuse is real short.” … Karl said Nene (knee) looked OK during Wednesday’s practice, which was a light session. Karl said he is interested to see how the forward responds to a harder practice today.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
