On March 9, the Nuggets were in the midst of losing three out of four games. Detroit beat them on that Friday night at the Pepsi Center. The fans sighed and scratched their heads, wondering what had become of a Denver team that was billed to be a good one.
On April 9, the Pepsi Center rocked. And with a last-second knockout punch, the Los Angeles Lakers were rolled.
Denver moved to within one win of a playoff berth Monday night, outlasting the Lakers 115-111 in a game that felt closer to a weekend playoff contest at the arena than a beginning-of- the-week, regular-season game.
The Nuggets are hot. Six-game- winning-streak hot. Owner-pleasing hot. Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke grinned ear-to-ear as he strode up to shake the hand of center Marcus Camby in a back-arena hallway.
“Mr. K,” Camby chuckled.
Yes, all of a sudden, it’s that good.
In April, these Nuggets get off to good starts, keep their composure during runs by opponents and make the necessary plays to win at the end.
“We are playing together,” guard Allen Iverson said. “But I think more importantly we are playing together as a defensive team. Offense is the really fun part of the game. Nobody really wants to play that much defense.
“We buckled down and played defense, and that enabled us to do things on the offensive end.”
Iverson made 1-of-2 free throws to give the Nuggets a one-point lead with 1:19 left, and Lakers star Kobe Bryant made one to bring the Lakers within 110-109 with 1:01 remaining. On the Nuggets’ ensuing possession, Nene was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws with 49.9 seconds left to give Denver a 111-109 lead.
Lakers forward Brian Cook missed a layup on L.A.’s next possession. After the Nuggets recovered the ball, Carmelo Anthony was fouled with 9.2 seconds left. He made 1-of-2 free throws to stretch the Nuggets’ advantage to 112-109. Bryant was intentionally fouled by Denver with 8.3 seconds left.
Bryant made both free throws to make the score 112-111. Anthony then was fouled again and made both free throws to give Denver another three-point lead at 114-111. On the Lakers’ last- ditch effort, Bryant missed a 3-point attempt and Camby made 1-of-2 free throws to seal Denver’s win.
“They are playing extremely well,” Bryant said of the Nuggets. “They are playing as a unit. They are moving the ball extremely well. Allen’s playing extremely well. Carmelo’s playing extremely well. The supporting cast is playing extremely well. They’re very hot right now.”
Anthony and Iverson combined for 57 points. Anthony scored a game-high 33 points, also contributing five rebounds and five assists.
The Nuggets (41-36) can wrap up a playoff berth with a victory Wednesday night at Utah. They are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers for the sixth spot in the Western Conference standings.
“We wanted to buckle down,” Anthony said. “And once they made their run, we just wanted to try to keep our composure out there. … That’s what we did down the stretch.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
