CLEVELAND — Ever run into that irritating guy from high school, the guy you thought you had seen the last of at graduation?
That’s what Thursday was like for Nuggets faithful, who, after mostly sharp defensive efforts from their team, were rudely reminded of past nuisances.
Playing defense circa 2007, the Nuggets lost at Cleveland 110-99, “our worst defensive effort of the year,” coach George Karl said.
Entering the game, the temporary defensive juggernauts had allowed just 98.7 points per game; the last season Denver opponents averaged fewer than 100 points was 2004-05. But on Thursday, Cleveland scored its 100th point with 6:23 left, and for the night, the Cavaliers shot a loony 57.3 percent from the field.
Down seven entering the fourth quarter, the Nuggets had no go-to player (even though there are many on the roster). Then power forward Kenyon Martin unraveled late, earning a technical foul, followed by a flagrant-two foul, which led to Martin’s ejection by official Joe Crawford, while Martin mouthed something about the official’s mother.
The call, though, was questionable. Martin just bumped hard (hardly bumped?) into Anderson Varejao, in a game when Dahntay Jones and LeBron James got in a shoving tiff and neither even received a technical foul.
“It’s basketball, man — it’s a contact sport,” Martin said. “It’s not bowling or table tennis.”
Karl suggested the call could have been a flagrant-one but not a flagrant- two, which leads to an automatic ejection, while earning a player two flagrant points. If five are accumulated, a player must miss a game.
Similarly disheartening were the second halves of Denver’s Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony. For the night, they combined for 44 points but scored just four in the fourth — all from Billups.
“They started trapping my pick-and- rolls,” said Billups, who scored a game- high 26. “They played me a lot (in the second half) like that when I was in Detroit.”
Anthony finished with 18 points and took just two shots in the fourth quarter, a frightening amount, or lack thereof.
“Melo’s got to help us help him. That’s the big thing,” said Karl, whose team is 4-4 heading into Boston tonight. “He wasn’t scoring on the post-up, so how do we get him in more motion, more movement, ahead of the ball with transition? We need to start doing a better job of moving him around.”
Meanwhile, James — Anthony’s dear friend and Olympic teammate — had a stellar night, scoring 22 points, but stuffing the stat sheet with eight rebounds, 11 assists and three steals. And he probably made the highlight reel:
• He caught an alley over Nene for an oop.
• He knocked down a pull-up jumper, over J.R. Smith to beat the third-quarter buzzer.
• He floated on one particular play to the right of the basket, and while being fouled hard, still powered a bank shot, which, of course, banked in.
“You always want to go against the best,” said James, whose team is 7-2. “And Melo being one of the best in this league, even if he wasn’t my friend, it would be fun.”
And tonight, 24 hours after the loss, Denver plays at the defending champs. Without reserve posts Chris Andersen (rib) and Steven Hunter (knee), the Nuggets still hung around at Charlotte and, for a while, Cleveland. Tonight’s challenge will be daunting against the green forest of trees.
Benjamin Hochman:
303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Denver at Boston
6 p.m. tonight, ALT/ESPN, KCKK 1510 AM
Spotlight on Paul Pierce: The Celtics have approached this season with a determination similar to last season’s and are 8-1 thanks to Pierce’s leadership. Wednesday night, down one point with one second left, Pierce drained a tough, game-winning jumper against playoff foe Atlanta. For the season, he leads Boston with 20.4 points per game and is second with 7.4 rebounds.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
