The Nuggets want to play better defense. But while they go through constant lapses, it’s good on occasion to be able to break the glass and pull out the Golden State Warriors.
Defense is not exactly a necessity when the Warriors are on the court.
They won’t play any if their opponents promise not to, and the Nuggets obliged, exceeding the 100-point mark in the third quarter of a 123-111 victory Monday at the Pepsi Center.
It is Denver’s third straight win and just its second victory in its past six home games.
“We just got tired of losing at home,” Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said with a smile. “We won two games on the road, so we tried to approach it like we were on the road. I know everybody is saying we like playing on the road more than we do at home, but that’s a lie.”
Playing Golden State, though? There’s never a bad time for that.
At the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets had 105 points, Golden State had 87 and all was right in the world of hyper-offensive basketball. Nuggets guard J.R. Smith thrived in the environment, scoring 28 points to tie for game-high honors with Anthony, who left the game with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter with a right quadriceps contusion that he said will not keep him out of any games.
Nuggets coach George Karl was understandably annoyed. Points are fine with him, but victories are even better. But just one game, he would just like the Nuggets to humor him. Play solid defense for 48 minutes. Pass the ball on offense. Get a big lead and not mentally check out as the game wears on.
He got about half of that.
“Defensively, I thought this was one of our weakest performances in a while,” Karl said.
He went on.
“When we play as a basketball team, we are good,” Karl said. “When we defend and pass the ball, we are good. It’s not much more complicated than that. … But we have a tendency that when the scoreboard says it’s OK to be goofy, we go goofy.”
Karl was miffed at the shot selection of Smith and Eduardo Najera when the Nuggets had a big second-half lead. Of Smith, Karl said: “He was fantastic until he took the goofy shots. Everybody knew he was going to do it. We had bet on the bench that he would do it, and everybody knew it.”
Denver (26-24) blew the game open with a 40-28 third quarter that took the advantage from 65-59 to an out-of-reach 105-87.
Nene added 24 points for the Nuggets as a combined five players from both teams had at least 23 points. And Linas Kleiza scored 12 points off the bench. Fifteen players had at least six points.
The Nuggets won this game shooting a slightly worse percentage from the field (51 percent) than the Warriors (53 percent). But that is all right when Golden State is involved, because the Nuggets were allowed to hoist 96 shots to the Warriors’ 83. The teams combined to take 47 3-point shots, with Denver making 7-of-22. Golden State found the range from 3-point land on 8-of-25.
“We play quick, man,” said Warriors forward Al Harrington, who had a team-high 24 points. “And Denver is one of those teams that can play that way, also. … They just had a little bit more.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
