In his worst game — and his team’s game, too — this season, Carmelo Anthony suddenly ascended, making two late hustle plays that made Sunday’s home test one of Denver’s most fulfilling games.
In Sunday’s 90-84 win against Minnesota (1-8), Anthony snatched a tough offensive rebound with 2:40 left and the Nuggets down by two. At the time, Anthony had just nine points, but he was fouled in the low post and made his first free throw.
He missed the second, but the Nuggets’ Nene corralled the offensive rebound and fed, yep, a cutting Anthony, who slammed a two-handed dunk over center Al Jefferson.
The Nuggets are 6-4 overall and 5-1 with Chauncey Billups in the lineup, and perhaps come the April playoff hunt, Denver will look back at this game as a gritty, season-altering game. Quite frankly, the Nuggets played terribly but still found a way to win.
For the night, Anthony finished with 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Billups had a game-high 26 — including a 3-pointer with 50.8 seconds left, to make the score 84-80 — but for the night he was 7-for-23 from the field.
Amid the hoopla of Billups’ leadership, defense and passing, it’s been overlooked that the guy has struggled shooting in his six games with the team. He has had shooting nights of 5-for-17, 2-for-13, 4-for-12 and then Sunday’s array of clanks.
