The rim was made of kryptonite.
Shot after shot died on the rim Sunday night at the Pepsi Center, many from Denver all-star Carmelo Anthony, whose normally cool hand was simply cold.
But during a key play in the Nuggets’ 90-84 win against Minnesota — down one point with 2:40 left — Anthony ascended.
After Anthony missed a free throw, teammate Nene corralled the rebound and fed a cutting Anthony, who slammed a two-handed dunk over center Al Jefferson.
Denver took its first lead since early in the third quarter and did not trail the rest of the game. Anthony punched a celebratory haymaker into the air.
“It felt like paradise,” Anthony said. “The game was just going so many different ways for me tonight.”
Denver won Sunday despite just 14 points from Anthony, who missed 13 of his 17 shot attempts. He called his game “ugly.” For the night, the Nuggets shot 33.7 percent from the field, which is abysmal. Only once since the Nuggets joined the NBA have they shot worse from the field and won — Oct. 29, 2003, against San Antonio, when Denver shot 29.2 percent.
“Our offense is not flowing,” Anthony said, which is funny to hear, because Denver (6-4) is 5-1 since Chauncey Billups entered the lineup.
But the Nuggets are winning because of their defense. After a meltdown in Cleveland on Thursday, Denver played smart defense in Friday’s statement win at Boston. And on Sunday, the Nuggets smothered the Timberwolves (1-8), who shot 39.7 percent.
Kenyon Martin played contagious defense, notably down the stretch against Jefferson, Minnesota’s best player.
“Defensively, Kenyon was pretty incredible on Jefferson in the last five minutes,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
For the night, Martin logged two steals, three blocked shots and seven rebounds and, oh yeah, 10 points.
Today marks the two-week anniversary of the Billups acquisition. Amid the hoopla of the local legend’s leadership, defense and passing, it’s been overlooked that the guy, overall, has struggled shooting. He has played six games for Denver this season, which has featured shooting nights of 5-for-17, 2-for-13, 4-for-12 and then Sunday’s array of clanks.
He had a game-high 26 points — including a 3-pointer with 50.8 seconds left to make the score 84-80 — but for the night he was 7-for-23, rather Melo-esque statistics.
But, as with Anthony and his 12 rebounds Sunday, Billups found other ways to help his team win — again.
Besides the 3-pointer, he notched five assists with just one turnover. With Billups at the helm, the Nuggets had a season-low 10 turnovers. And Billups’ stingy defense helped Denver force 19 Timberwolves turnovers, which led to 22 Nuggets points.
“I think Chauncey magnifies the defense and balance mentality,” Karl said. “There is an excitement and efficiency, rather than being spectacular. And there’s a confidence. We don’t play with fear.
“He’s not Jason Kidd, he’s not going to get 15 assists, he’s just efficient and effective. You give him a 3-on-2, something gets done. He doesn’t throw a possession away. . . . We’re not one of the top five teams in the NBA, but our window for improvement is bigger than probably the top five-to-10 teams. We can get better. Our young guys can get better. Chauncey will do that. There will be a commitment to improve.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
After two double-digit scoring games, reserve Renaldo Balkman was scoreless at Cleveland, scored four points at Boston and was scoreless in just eight minutes Sunday.
Final thought
Chauncey Billups told the team in the third quarter that Sunday’s was a game they didn’t want to look back on and wish they hadn’t blown. Denver was resilient, winning an ugly game.
Up next
Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, 7 p.m.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
