TORONTO — Before the Nuggets won Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter, they almost lost it in the first quarter. Denver trailed Toronto by as many as 17 points in the first, and entered the second quarter down by 12.
But reserve J.R. Smith made three of Denver’s first four baskets in the second, the fourth cutting the lead to four.
“We don’t win this game without his second-quarter spurt,” Denver coach George Karl said. “He got us running, he got us aggressive to the rim, he got the penetration game back in the court, rather than the jump-shot game that we were doing most of the first quarter.”
Smith was 4-for-7 in the second quarter for nine points, and he finished the night with 14 points and no turnovers; he is normally good for a boneheaded decision during the course of a game.
As for Denver’s other two key reserves — Eduardo Najera and Linas Kleiza — each scored just three points.
The only other Nugget to come off the bench was Chucky Atkins. He didn’t score in seven minutes.
Atkins didn’t play at all in the previous game, the first game Karl didn’t play him since his return from sports hernia surgery. Karl said it has been tough to find Atkins minutes in the backcourt, notably with the rise of Smith.
On Sunday, Smith played 23 minutes and even started the second half instead of struggling starter Anthony Carter. That’s a rarity for Karl, who likes to start the second half the way he started the first.
Karl said he spoke with Car- ter about that during the halftime, and Carter said, “Let’s go with it.” Carter finished with five points in 22 minutes.
Big loss.
In the postgame locker room, Najera was on a laptop, reading about Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, out for two weeks with a leg injury. The Mavericks, even with the all-star, had lost three straight at home, including Sunday against the Spurs.
“It’s unfortunate, and you never want to see a guy go down for his team,” Denver center Marcus Camby said. “But hopefully we can take advantage of it.”
Denver hosts Dallas on Thursday, which should be a marquee game in the playoff race.
