BOSTON — The organist, apparently, didn’t know “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
The Harlem Globetrotters’ bubbly anthem was the only thing missing from the Boston Celtics’ basketball exhibition Wednesday. With smiles pasted to their faces, the Celtics ran circles around the sluggish Nuggets, tossing alley-oops with the precision of free throws, 3-pointers with the effortlessness of layups.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been beat that bad,” guard Allen Iverson said.
The final score at TD Banknorth Garden was 119-93, and it was over, really, during the second quarter, when the Nuggets (2-3) had a minor meltdown, and the Celtics (3-0) looked like five Meadowlark Lemons.
“Our fundamental nature of playing hard went out the window the last couple nights,” said Nuggets coach George Karl, whose team has lost three straight. “They came out with a spirit and energy and took our spirit and energy away from us.”
The Celtics, even this morning, are probably embarrassed by their first-quarter efforts. They shot just 70.8 percent. Fortunately for the Boston faithful, their team got it together in the second quarter, shooting 73.7, to take a 77-38 lead at the half.
Boston finished the night shooting 64.5, one percentage point from tying a Nuggets opponents’ record for field-goal accuracy. The Celtics hadn’t shot this well since Nov. 24, 1993, when they made 65.1 against Detroit.
“Not even the bad Toronto teams we had when I first was drafted into the league, I don’t remember ever being down this big,” said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, whose team trailed by as many as 41 points.
Playing the second game in as many nights, the Nuggets seemed a step slow. Sometimes two. In the first quarter, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, stationed on the perimeter, lobbed a ball to cutting teammate Paul Pierce, who received the pass and whipped it around his back, without looking, in one fluid motion. Teammate Kendrick Perkins caught the pass and slammed an uncontested dunk.
In the second quarter, the emotional frustration became verbal. With 8:05 left in the half, Nuggets forward Eduardo Najera screamed at an official, earning a technical foul. The free throw increased Boston’s lead to 50-25. Then, with 6:09 left in the half, forward Kenyon Martin was called for a technical.
Martin was the only fresh Nuggets player, after resting his knee in Tuesday’s loss at New York. Martin finished with 12 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. Iverson led the Nuggets with 22 points and Anthony scored only 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Garnett finished with a game-high 23, including a dunk on an alley-oop, in which he caught the ball nearly two feet above the rim, surely a highlight-reel mainstay for this NBA season.
Pierce scored 26 points, including a telling basket late in the second quarter. Leading 71-37, he missed a free throw, but the ball bounced back to him a couple seconds later. He was then standing behind the 3-point line, uncontested, so he took as much time on the 3-pointer as he did on the free throw, splashing the shot.
After three quarters, Boston led 103-66, and during the fourth quarter, the home crowd did something deemed implausible – they began chanting “Scal-a-bri-ne,” in honor of seldom-used Brian Scalabrine. He soon sunk a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, enhancing the Celtics’ plump shooting percentage.
Doomed by another team from Beantown
Three things that went wrong Wednesday in the Nuggets’ 119-93 loss to the Celtics in Boston:
Points in the paint: The Celtics dominated the paint, scoring 62 points, compared with Denver’s 32.
Nuggets composure: In the first quarter, guard Allen Iverson had a minor blowup with official Sean Wright, but Iverson wasn’t given a technical foul. But in the second quarter, Eduardo Najera and Kenyon Martin were.
Shot selection: The Nuggets seldom found their rhythm that was a key to their first two victories this season. Carmelo Anthony, generally reliable, scored only 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting, though he said, “I’ve never seen a defense like that.”
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Nuggets forward Nene left the game in the first quarter with a sprained left thumb and didn’t return. Preliminary X-rays were negative, but he traveled back to Denver to meet with a doctor today. He will not play in the Nuggets’ next two games – Friday at Washington, Saturday at Indiana.
Final thought
That was abysmal. But, the players seemed to have good perspective in the postgame locker room. It wasn’t doomsday, considering, after all, it was only Nov. 7.
Up next
At Washington, Friday, 6 p.m.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
