To those who showed up at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, the team on the court didn’t match the one seen on television. The television Nuggets had life and a swagger.
The three-dimensional Nuggets didn’t have energy or swagger or anything resembling the “good” basketball they said they left the road with.
And the Nuggets paid for it with a loss to one of the Western Conference’s worst teams.
Seattle, on zero days’ rest, beat the Nuggets, on one day’s rest, 100-97.
Carmelo Anthony passed on a chance to win the game by himself, dishing the ball to Linas Kleiza, who missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining.
Seattle’s Rashard Lewis made 1-of-2 free throws with 2.1 seconds left, but the Nuggets missed a 3-point attempt to tie.
The loss was the Nuggets’ third in their past four games. It dropped their record back to .500 (35-35) and sliced their lead over the Los Angeles Clippers for seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race to a game.
Anthony led the Nuggets with 28 points and Nene added 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Sonics, who have won back-to-back games, were led by a game-high 33 points and 10 rebounds by Rashard Lewis.
The Sonics shot 54 percent from the field, which made up for turning the ball over 23 times, leading to 35 Denver points.
Denver is 5-16 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. The Nuggets now head out on a three-game road trip to Phoenix on Friday, Seattle on Sunday and Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Tuesday.
