San Antonio – “Nights like this I wish raindrops would fall.”
That is the chorus from an old song called “Nights Like This,” by the R&B group After 7. You know Tuesday night must have been bad for the Nuggets if all-star forward Carmelo Anthony was solemnly singing it after the game.
The Nuggets were totally off-key, trailing by 31 points before losing 95-80 to the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center. The Nuggets set a season low for points, after scoring 83 against San Antonio on Jan. 10, and fell back to .500 at 26-26. They allowed 26 points off 20 turnovers and shot 42.5 percent.
Denver slipped to 2-5 in games with star duo Allen Iverson and Anthony together. They combined for a season-low 24 points, with Anthony’s 15 leading the Nuggets.
“It was a (butt)-whooping,” said Anthony, who had been averaging an NBA-leading 30.7 points. “It was just one of them days. One of them games, man.
“What happened? We don’t even have any words to describe it.
“Nights like this I wish, boy, for real. In games like this where they take me out completely, they take A.I. out completely, we ain’t making no shots, other guys have to step up. But it was one of those nights where nobody made shots.”
Iverson returned to the Nuggets’ lineup after missing the past four games because of a sprained ankle. He scored eight of his nine points in the first half. But with 3.9 seconds left in the second quarter, Iverson fell hard after a missed layup attempt, came up limping and went to the locker room. He returned in the second half but wasn’t a factor. Along with right-ankle pain, he also said he injured his hip and has left-elbow bursitis.
“(My right ankle) bothered me on a couple plays,” Iverson said. “But for the most part I was all right. I limped around down there when I came down a couple times. But other than that, the pain kind of went away.”
Iverson’s nine points were his fewest since scoring eight on March 4, 2003, against Houston.
“I know I can hit those shots with my eyes closed,” Iverson said. “Maybe I should have closed them.”
The Nuggets opened the game with an 11-4 lead, but trailed 49-38 at halftime after shooting 39.5 percent. Denver scored 10 points, a season low in a quarter, in the third as San Antonio raced to a 79-48 lead.
“I’m surprised we haven’t had one of these flat games (previously) with all the faces and changes that we’ve had,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
Starters Anthony and Marcus Camby were on the bench at the start of the fourth quarter and didn’t return. Iverson exited with 9:46 left and Denver down 81-54. The Nuggets were out of this game much earlier and wishing raindrops would fall afterward.
“It was an old-fashioned beatdown,” Camby said.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
Power outage
The Nuggets posted some season-low numbers Tuesday night in San Antonio:
