Before the game, Nuggets coach George Karl verbally scrapped for his short-handed bunch. During the game, his short-handed bunch scrapped for him.
But in the end, the Phoenix Suns were simply better.
Despite a triple-double from Carmelo Anthony, the Suns outlasted the Nuggets 113-108 on Monday night at the Pepsi Center, and did so without MVP candidate guard Steve Nash, who sat out the second half with a shoulder injury.
It was the sixth loss in the past seven games for the Nuggets (23-23), who played without guard Allen Iverson for the fourth straight game and without center Marcus Camby.
Tossing away a more normal helter-skelter running approach, the Nuggets opted for a more controlled way of running. Getting to the rim was the goal and the Nuggets did that with regularity. Anthony led with a near triple-double in the first half, and the Nuggets scored 32 points in the paint. Anthony had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a dominating half in which the Nuggets outrebounded the Suns 28-18.
Nash left the game at halftime. The Suns (38-10), however, appeared to get better and run more without him.
Amare Stoudamire scored 15 points in the third quarter and the Suns turned a 67-57 Nuggets lead into a 72-69 Suns advantage with a 15-2 run.
Phoenix held Denver off in the fourth quarter, which was significant because the Nuggets put up a sizable challenge. Anthony and Nene led a charge that got Denver to within 97-95 with less than five minutes left. But a Leandro Barbosa 3-pointer kept Denver at arm’s length, and the Suns gutted out the victory.
In the loss, Anthony recorded his first career triple-double with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Nene scored 13 of his career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, and added seven rebounds. J.R. Smith rounded out three Nuggets in double figures with 18 points, including three 3-pointers.
The Suns rode the back of Stoudamire, who finished with a game-high 36 points and 13 rebounds.
