J.R. Smith slouched in his locker room chair, his eyes watery.
Carmelo Anthony coiled his body in his own chair, as if trying to hide.
The Nuggets lost their third consecutive game Monday night, 98-93 to Detroit at the Pepsi Center. This one was maddening not because the Nuggets lost a big lead, as they did on Saturday, but because they were so close to winning — and sputtered in the end.
Down 95-92 with 6.5 seconds left, Smith was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. He made the first free throw, missed the second and — Smith said — tried to miss the third, which he did. Denver’s Kenyon Martin got his right hand on the rebound, but he couldn’t corral the ball and missed the tip. Detroit (42-15) retrieved the ball and Chauncey Billups made three free throws in the closing seconds.
The Nuggets blew a golden opportunity Friday at Chicago and blew a 23-point lead Saturday at Milwaukee, and now they are just feeling blue.
Denver guard Allen Iverson is worried. He is an accountable son of a gun, a proud captain of the team. After the game, he said the Nuggets’ last three opponents have “wanted it more than we have.”
“You can’t win in this league if you don’t have team priorities,” he said. “We need to look in the mirror and find out what we need to do as individuals to make us better. You start with yourself first — myself, Melo. Everybody has to hold each other accountable for what happens out there.”
The Nuggets (33-23) shot just 36 percent from the field, under 40 percent for just the 10th time all season. And they scored just 93 points, becoming 3-14 when they score fewer than 100.
“We slowed the ball down and got in their tempo,” said Denver assistant coach Adrian Dantley, who was in charge Monday because George Karl was home with the flu.
The Nuggets succumbed to Detroit’s style, though they stuck around all night. Detroit led by just two points after one quarter, 30-28. At halftime, the game was tied 49-49. After three quarters, it was tied 73-73.
But the Nuggets shot just 26.7 percent in the fourth quarter while Detroit shot 45 percent, including a clutch 3-pointer by Billups with 1:50 left that gave the Pistons a 93-86 lead. The Denver native finished with 20 points and eight assists, though he was the culprit who fouled Smith with 6.5 seconds left.
Smith had been playing “good bad” basketball, Karl said Saturday, and Monday he was 4-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-10 from 3-point range.
After the game, in front of reporters, he was curt.
“I feel awful,” he said, eyes watery. Later, he erupted at one reporter, even using an expletive.
But one can’t blame the loss solely on Smith. The Nuggets let this win slip out of their shooting hands.
“We’ve got the leadership,” Smith said. “We’ve got the players and we’ve got the coaches. But they can’t go out and play for us. We have to play for ourselves.”
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Carmelo Anthony tied for a team-high 11 rebounds with center Marcus Camby. Denver native Chauncey Billups finished with 20 points and eight assists. In five previous games visiting Denver as a Piston, Billups averaged 16.4 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Final thought
Losing big, losing leads, losing late — anyway you put it, the Nuggets have managed to lose three straight games. They played a great team tough, but that is never brought up when dissecting wins and losses at season’s end.
Up next
at Seattle, 8 p.m., Wednesday.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
