ATLANTA — The perfect storm brewed.
During Tuesday’s 104-93 loss to Atlanta, the Nuggets remained emotionally drained from the news that Nene, their teammate and friend, had a testicular tumor removed this week. They were also playing without starting power forward Kenyon Martin (staph infection). And they were playing the second game of a back-to-back, following a last-minute loss at Charlotte on Monday.
Down double-digits for the entire second half, Denver cut the lead to eight with 1:47 left. But on two consecutive inbound plays, Allen Iverson was bumped by Atlanta’s Anthony Johnson, and both times there was no call — and a turnover.
After the second turnover, the storm touched down. Iverson exploded and was promptly ejected. Center Marcus Camby escorted him off the court while he continued to scream.
Then, J.R. Smith exploded and was ejected. Camby, again, escorted a screaming teammate toward the locker room. Smith furiously threw his headband and jersey into the giddy Philips Arena stands.
“There’s a lot of emotion and frustration on our team right now,” said coach George Karl, whose Nuggets are 22-15. “There are circumstances out there where, if you feel like you’re getting mistreated, you burst. I can understand A.I. I don’t understand what J.R. did.”
Smith, who scored 21 points, slipped out of the locker room to avoid the media, but in the bowels of the arena he said: “We’ve got to get through it as a team. No matter what, people are going to go down, so people are going to have to step up and play.”
As for Iverson, he spoke candidly: “You take those two possessions away from us, and I didn’t think we had an opportunity (to win). And I just reacted the way I reacted.”
The frustration was summed up, statistically, by the dubious history Denver made. For the first time in Nuggets history, only five players scored. And two were bench players.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 36 points and Iverson scored 27. The only other starter to score was Camby with just four points, while Atlanta native Anthony Carter went 0-for-5 and Eduardo Najera, filling in for Martin, went scoreless in 22 gritty minutes.
Najera hadn’t played the night before because of a hyperextension in his right elbow.
“Eddie was a warrior — he gave us what he could,” Camby said. “There’s no way he should have been out there playing.”
Denver shot 40 percent to 51.9 by Atlanta. Karl said, Denver played “Jekyll and Hyde” defense. In the first half, the Hawks shot 61.9 percent and scored 65 points. In the second, they shot 40 percent and scored 39.
“I think we learned something in the second half,” Karl said. “And one thing I like about my team right now is they take losing hard — and that’s a good sign. We might get emotional, frustrated. But we’re getting that way because we’re angry. If we turn that anger into passion and presence, it will be good for us.”
Nuggets recap
What you might have missed: With 27 points, Allen Iverson has now passed both Larry Bird (21,791) and Gary Payton (21,813) on the NBA’s all-time scoring chart. Iverson has 21,816, good for 26th all time. As for passing the Hall of Famer Bird: “It’s an honor,” Iverson said. “He’s arguably the best shooter to ever play the game. He’s a legend.”
Final thought
George Karl said it best — the defense shows up for only one half, you’re not going to win on the road when you’re down a bunch of guys. Give the Nuggets credit for clawing back into it. But also realize the Nuggets dug that hole to begin with.
Up next
vs. Utah, 7 p.m., Thursday.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
