INDIANAPOLIS – The road trip was deemed a bust.
At halftime on Saturday, the Nuggets trailed the Indiana Pacers by 18 points, on the road, in their fourth game in five days. They had already lost two of those three. The sooner the game ended, the sooner they’d be on a flight to Denver.
But the Nuggets, with four players injured, wiped away the fatigue with a sweat towel and played energetically in the second half. The result was a triumphant victory, 113-106 at Conseco Fieldhouse, the second-largest second-half comeback in Nuggets history.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 32 points and guard Allen Iverson had 27, but Anthony said the game ball should be shared by Yakhouba Diawara, the third-quarter sparkplug, and Linas Kleiza, who scored 12 of his season-high 21 in the deciding fourth.
After a draining victory on Friday, the third game in four days, coach George Karl said, “Finding the energy tomorrow night …” – then he whistled and sighed – “will be the key to our success.” The coach knew the second game of their second back-to-back of the week would be arduous. And sure enough, the first quarter was wretched. Denver allowed 46 Pacers points, an Indiana franchise record for points scored in the first quarter. The Pacers shot 65.5 percent in that quarter, 45.8 in the second, and went to the locker room up 74-56, with seven 3-pointers on their resume already.
The Nuggets went a first-half stretch of 8 minutes and 20 second without scoring a field goal. The rim took quite a beating.
But, just like the previous night, the Nuggets erupted in the third quarter. On Saturday, they out-scored Indiana 26-14, and a 9-0 run featuring three 3-pointers cut a 14-point deficit to five with 2:16 left.
With 7:49 left in the game, Iverson splashed a 3-pointer to take a 95-94 lead, Denver’s first since 3-2. Down the stretch, Denver hit its free throws, Indiana didn’t, and Iverson’s 3-pointer with 26.5 seconds left gave Denver a 109-101 cushion.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
