Last Thursday, the Nuggets led the Los Angeles Lakers by 17 points in the first half. The Nuggets ended up losing by 28.
Yes, there are 82 games in the NBA season, and Denver has already played two since that debacle, but the Nuggets haven’t forgotten what forward Carmelo Anthony called “an embarrassing moment. … I’m pretty sure it’s going to be in the back of our minds tonight.”
The Nuggets (11-7) host the Lakers (10-8) at 7 p.m. tonight at Pepsi Center, a game that can also be seen on ESPN or Altitude.
“The way they kind of buried is in the fourth quarter, there was a little professional pride coming out on that deal,” Denver coach George Karl said today at shootaround. “They’ll be reminded of that (before tonight’s game).”
The Nuggets will face all-star Kobe Bryant, who scored 24 points in 30 minutes in the last game against Denver.
“You don’t defend him – you try to control him,” Karl said. “We’re going to start Anthony Carter on him, we’ve got (Yakhouba Diawara) in our back pocket and (power forward) Kenyon Martin feels he can put in some time on him. And there’s probably going to be some zone and double teams”.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
