SALT LAKE CITY — Head down, chewing maniacally on his mouth guard, Allen Iverson walked through the tunnel to the Nuggets’ locker room like a boxer who lost by technical knockout.
The shorthanded Nuggets fought extremely hard Wednesday night at Utah in the season opener, but trailing 97-94, Kenyon Martin missed a 3-point attempt in the final seconds, and Ronnie Brewer snagged the game-winning rebound. Brewer’s free throw gave Utah a 98-94 win at Energy Solutions Arena.
Denver played without co-captain and two-time all-star Carmelo Anthony, who was suspended two games by the team, stemming from his DUI arrest before the playoffs last April.
Denver was down by double digits in the third quarter but quietly crawled back in the fourth, and when Renaldo Balkman stole the ball and scored a breakaway dunk, he tied the game at 82 with 6:05 left.
Denver got a huge 3-point play from Nene with 1:03 left when the big man was fouled on a dunk attempt, which clanged and bounced into the air and then dropped in. The free throw got the Nuggets within 89-88, but on the other end, Nene picked up his sixth foul and headed to the bench in disgust. The game went back and forth until Martin’s miss.
In recent years, few teams have given Denver more trouble than Utah has. The Jazz has won 10 of the past 12 meetings between the Northwest Division rivals.
After a forgettable preseason, riddled with injuries and poor shooting, Iverson started the season opener strong, scoring eight points with two assists in the first quarter. But from that point, the shooting guard was off. He finished with 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting.
And he grimaces often while still recovering from knee and ankle injuries, showing his discomfort.
