Topping Karl will be tough.
Chauncey Billups’ re-arrival in Denver is perhaps the second-best Nuggets debut this decade. Denver has gone 3-0 since the guard was traded for Allen Iverson last week, before a late Thursday game at Cleveland. But Billups has a long way to go to match George Karl’s arrival. The coach in 2005 started 32-8.
Billups’ biggest challenge to date in Denver started Tuesday in the first of a three-game East Coast road swing. The trip ends tonight at Boston against the defending champ Celtics. That game airs at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
The Nuggets then return to Denver for a Sunday 6 p.m. game against Minnesota (ALT).
Denver D-minded
Going into Thursday, the Nuggets ranked 21st in the 30-team NBA in points allowed. But Denver’s opponents are shooting the third-lowest percentage:
Defense FG%
1. Boston Celtics 38.9
2. L.A. Lakers 40.2
3. Denver Nuggets 41.2
Pts.
1. L.A. Lakers 86.7
2. Boston Celtics 88.4
3. Utah Jazz 90.1
21. Denver Nuggets 98.7
