The Nuggets could have three all-stars after all.
Forward Carmelo Anthony is a lock because of fan voting. Guard Allen Iverson, playing spectacularly of late, should be a reserve for the Feb. 17 game in New Orleans. Denver coach George Karl has routinely made a strong argument for why center Marcus Camby should make the team, but the roster spots could keep him off.
And Karl has a shot to make the Western Conference all-star team as the head coach.
The way the rules are set up, the conference’s coach with the best record through Feb. 3 is the coach — unless that man was the coach last season (Phoenix’s Mike D’Antoni in the West and Washington’s Eddie Jordan in the East). Entering Tuesday night, six teams were within three games of the Suns, who are leading the West. Denver (21-13) was tied for the sixth-best record in the West, just three games back from the best overall record.
If, after the games on Feb. 3, two coaches tie, the tiebreaker steps are:
• Coach who most recently has not coached in the All-Star Game.
• Coach of the team with head-to-head advantage.
• Coach of the team with best conference record.
• Coin flip.
Karl has coached three All-Star Games, all while he was with Seattle. Karl coached the games in 1994, 1996 and 1998, losing all three, while the Bulls’ Michael Jordan won two MVPs (1996 and 1998) and the Bulls’ Scottie Pippen won the honors in 1994.
Though it is hard to gauge which team will have the best record through Feb. 3, the Nuggets do have a solid shot: Entering Tuesday, six of their next 12 games were against teams with losing records.
Hey, Nene.
Though Monday’s game was atrocious, there was a glimmer of a bright spot off the Nuggets’ bench. Power forward Nene had one of his better statistical games, notching season highs with 12 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
“He’s just being aggressive,” Anthony said, “and anytime we can get him doing that, the more aggressive he is, the more effective he is.”
In the seven games since Nene returned from his thumb injury, he has averaged 7.2 rebounds. In the five games before the injury, he averaged 5.2.
Streak blocked.
The Nuggets are the NBA’s top shot-blocking team, and in the three games entering Monday, they tallied double-digit totals of 14, 12 and 15. The Nuggets won those games, but with four blocked shots Monday at Phoenix they lost.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
