Nuggets coach George Karl didn’t have to say a word because his facial expressions and hand gestures spoke volumes.
The Nuggets lost again, this time 96-84 to the Northwest Division-leading Utah Jazz on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center for their fifth straight setback. The last time Denver lost five consecutive games was from Jan. 2-11, 2005.
The Nuggets (16-15) are now 3-6 while Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith serve 15- and 10-game suspensions, respectively, for fighting against the New York Knicks on Dec. 16. And before Karl could answer a postgame question, he rubbed his face, closed his eyes and sighed for about 30 seconds.
“Everyone in that locker room is frustrated,” Karl said. “Everyone in that locker room wants help. They want to figure it out. It will break. It will break somewhere. I said to them that whatever happens the next five, six, seven games, something is going to make us better. Something is going to make us stronger. It’s going to be important.
“The NBA is always an 82-game marathon. It’s not a 15-game stretch in the middle of January.”
The Nuggets’ morale is at a season low.
“To say it’s great would be a lie because if you lose this many games in a row, obviously, the morale is not where you want it to be,” said Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, who had 22 points on 5-of-19 shooting, along with eight assists and five rebounds. “But Coach was telling us after the game to keep the spirit and stay together.”
The Jazz (24-10) opened with a 12-0 lead. The Nuggets entered halftime down 48-32 after shooting 34.3 percent from the field and missing 6-of-7 3-point attempts. Denver’s 32 points were a season-low for a first half, despite getting 14 points from Earl Boykins, who finished with 22.
“The first two quarters, I don’t know, we were just out there running around,” Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza said.
The revived Nuggets used an 18-6 run to trim their deficit to 54-50 after an Iverson layup at the 5:48 mark in the third quarter. Yakhouba Diawara’s 3-pointer with 23.3 seconds left cut the deficit to 65-62. The Nuggets outscored Utah 30-17 in the third quarter.
“They were able to come back at us and cut it to three points,” said Jazz guard Deron Williams, who had a game-high 28 points and 12 assists. “We just hung in there, though.”
After Jamal Sampson’s dunk brought the Nuggets within 68-67 with 9:30 left in the fourth quarter, the Jazz responded with a 10-0 run to take control.
Nuggets center Marcus Camby was out with a right wrist injury, but could return Monday against Milwaukee. Smith, who averages 16.7 points, will be back Wednesday against San Antonio. Anthony, the NBA’s leading scorer with a 31.6 average, won’t be back until Jan. 22 against Memphis.
Those facts are keeping Karl sane.
“I’m just hoping January 22nd, January 23rd comes around, we’re OK,” Karl said. “I have a good feeling that we’re going to be OK.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
