It may have been St. Patrick’s Day, but the night belonged to Allen O’Iverson, the patron saint of the crossover dribble.
Patrick didn’t actually chase the snakes out of Ireland, but O’Iverson definitely did chase the Suns out of Denver.
The Nuggets’ lucky leprechaun was all “O” and a lot of “D” Saturday night, finishing with 44 points and 15 assists. Iverson and running mate Carmelo Anthony hit 29-of-42 shots and combined for 73 points, 18 assists, 13 rebounds and only five turnovers. They gave new superstar Linas “Who?” Kleiza a rest in an emphatic 131-107 romp.
“When you’re in the zone, it doesn’t matter if a guy is on you because it feels like throwing rocks in the ocean,” Iverson said.
This is what we were talking about when Iverson and Anthony were united. This is what coach George Karl was talking about when he suggested the Nuggets play defense occasionally. This is what the Nuggets are talking about when they play unselfishly on offense. This is what the NBA will be talking about this morning.
And this is what the Suns have to be muttering to themselves about.
That’s a dream playoff series.
Bottle this, and the Nuggets could cause the Suns to sweat. The Nuggets ran, shot, rebounded, blocked offensively and played hard and tough defensively. Could this be the beginning, or are the Nuggets teasing us with a four-game winning streak? Check back on Easter and Cinco de Mayo.
The Nuggets have been trying so hard to get to the sixth seed in the Western Conference. They reached the spot for a few hours with a victory over the Lakers, then fell back when L.A. won Friday night.
The seventh seed is looking fine. The Nuggets could end up playing the Suns, who seem set in the second seed.
The Nuggets were sensational Saturday night; the Suns were just tired. “It was a good win. It’s a good place to be,” Karl said. “We didn’t do much wrong.”
The Nuggets led by 40 – count ’em – 40 at one point in the second half.
Before the game, Karl wasn’t going anywhere on the subject of a Phoenix-Denver playoff series. “I’m not that smart. We haven’t even had our playoff meeting because that might (upset) the basketball gods.”
Iverson obviously took on the challenge against double-trouble MVP Steve Nash, and kept burning the Suns’ point guard. Nash never got in the flow, and the Suns were a step slow.
The Suns will not always set this easily – or early.
If the Nuggets and the Suns meet in the playoffs for the fourth time, this year the series will last longer than three games.
Probably.
The NBA could declare a 10-run rule, I suppose, and call it off if the Suns waxed the Nuggets poetically by 30 or 40 points in each of the first three games in the best-of-seven series.
But chances are rather good that the Nuggets and Suns will play at least five times, or seven, if Saturday was an indicator.
The Nuggets do tend to win at least once in their playoff series.
They beat Minnesota once in 2004.
They beat San Antonio once in 2005.
They beat the Los Angeles Clippers once in 2006.
Which, of course, was better than the eight previous seasons, when they didn’t win once because they weren’t participating in the playoffs.
But in the good ol’ 1980s, the Suns and Nuggets met on three occasions (1982, 1983 and 1989). The Nuggets won the middle affair, two games to one (in what was termed a cute “mini-series.”) They lost the first best-of-three series 2-1, but, by 1989, the league had dumped that mini-me series and went to a five-game format (which did nothing for the Nuggets.)
The scores then were about the same as they would be this season. In 1982 the Nuggets beat Phoenix 129-113 before the Suns won 126-110 and 124-119. The next year Phoenix took the opener 121-108 before Denver came back 113-99 and 117-112 in overtime. In 1989 Phoenix prevailed at home 104-103 and 132-114 before closing out the series in Denver 130-121.
In those nine games only Phoenix scored under 100 points, by a point, on April 21, 1983.
A quarter century after their first postseason series, don’t expect either team to score fewer than 100 points in any game. They added up to 238 Saturday night.
Phoenix is first in the NBA in scoring, and the Nuggets now are second.
They should play on in the playoffs. First one to 150 wins.
But the Nuggets will savor Saturday night’s victory. They were saintly.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or at wpaige@denverpost.com.
