The combination of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony was expected to bring immediate scoring and victories. Well, at least the Nuggets are scoring.
The Nuggets suffered their third straight defeat, falling 105-101 to the struggling Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night at Pepsi Center. After winning their first two games together, Iverson and Anthony have been on the losing end for Denver (22-20).
“I’m not going to make some excuses right now, but it’s going to take some time,” said Anthony, who had 25 points but missed 15 of his 26 shots. “I’m back off (36) days (from a suspension). It’s going to take some time to get my rhythm, get my floor. My teammates are still trying to get used to me back out there on the court.
“When I was out, they were playing with roles out there. Now, their roles have changed. Right now, it’s just tough. But I’ve been through tougher times than losing three games in a row.”
Iverson had a game-high 31 points and eight assists. But the seven-time NBA all-star was listed as day to day with a sprained right ankle suffered in the first half. There was no swelling postgame, and X-rays were negative. He will be re-evaluated this morning and it’s uncertain whether he will play Wednesday at Portland.
“The way it feels right now, I don’t know,” Iverson said. “I’ll probably have to get up and see how it feels (today). It was just frustrating for me to be out there at the end, hobbling like that. I don’t know. I’ll just do what’s best for me.”
The Nuggets’ lack of defense, not Iverson and Anthony, was the hot topic after a 112-102 home loss to New Jersey on Saturday. Denver entered Monday as the NBA’s fourth-worst team in points allowed per game, with 103.9. But Charlotte was fifth-worst in points scored per game, with a 95.0 clip.
The Bobcats (16-28) were two points shy of tying a first-half scoring season high as they led 61-58 at halftime. Charlotte shot 57.1 percent from the field by the half, with three players scoring in double figures.
“You have to play team defense. We’re not there right now,” Iverson said.
Charlotte led 81-79 at the end of the third quarter. Two free throws by Raymond Felton gave the Bobcats a 102-100 lead with 1:29 left.
Denver closed to within 102-101 after Iverson made one of two free throws with 1:04 left. After a steal, Gerald Wallace made an athletic move to block Anthony’s layup attempt that could have given Denver the lead with 41.9 seconds left.
“I happened to be in the air a lot longer than he was,” said Wallace, who had 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Felton’s two free throws with 16.3 seconds left gave Charlotte a 104-101 lead. After a timeout, the Nuggets hoped for a quick basket and a foul. But after the play fell apart, Denver’s J.R. Smith missed an off-balance 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left, and no miracle followed.
After leading 96-91 with 5:06 remaining, the Nuggets were outscored 14-5, shot 1-for-7 from the field, missed four 3-point attempts and had two turnovers.
“We refuse to play for 48 minutes,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We refuse to play with an intensity they can be proud of, win or lose. Until we change that, it’s going to be very frustrating.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
