Disregarding the effects of tryptophan and bursting bellies, Nuggets fans leapt to their feet after the crazy play. Could this really be happening again, the home team pulling off another wild comeback win?
Down four late on Thursday, Carmelo Anthony was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. He made the first two and missed the third, but teammate Nene grabbed the rebound and slyly flipped it to Anthony for a game-tying dunk with 37 seconds left.
New Orleans forward James Posey hit a 3 with 19.1 left to take a 101-98 lead. After a couple of Hornets free throws, J.R. Smith hit a 3-pointer, but Chris Paul hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to ice the victory.
“I thought we fought hard,” Denver coach George Karl said. “Even though it’s a loss, I don’t think we look at it as a step backwards.”
With the 105-101 loss, the Nuggets are 10-6 on the season and 9-3 since Chauncey Billups entered the lineup. Thursday’s loss was just Denver’s second at home, the first coming against the Lakers (No. 1 in the Western Conference last season) and now this one to the Hornets, No. 2 in the Western Conference last season.
The Nuggets trailed just 52-46 at the half, but the Hornets went on a 10-2 run before the Nuggets could call a timeout. The Nuggets trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter but made a big comeback.
The close game made for an exciting night at the Pepsi Center for everyone except the unfortunate folks in Section 130.
See, there was one particular gentleman, who seemingly had as much Wild Turkey as everyone else had turkey, and this man loved J.R. Smith. And so, for the course of the night, the man screamed Smith’s name — “Jay Rrrrrrrrrr!” — every time Smith made a play.
Smith scored a season-high 32 points on 13-for-21 shooting.
Smith had been benched for Wednesday’s game because he came late to a previous practice. On Thursday night, he was well-rested, with a chip on his shoulder — both to make up for his mistake and to show the Hornets that trading him was a mistake.
In the first half, Smith was simply hot. He hit consecutive 3-pointers and a total of 14 first-half points, making him the only Nugget to reach double figures.
“They couldn’t stop him,” Billups said.
Smith was better in the second half.
During Denver’s comeback, Smith hit two consecutive 3s, the second cutting the lead to one. When the game became a back-and-forth, one-possession contest, Smith continued to throw daggers, and he threw down one that will be on Nuggets highlight reels all season.
Dribbling on the right baseline, he lunged forward and then quickly pulled back his dribble, which locked the knees of defender Peja Stojako-vic. Then Smith lunged forward again, this time blistering past the helpless Stojakovic, who had a great view of Smith’s two-handed slam.
On Thursday, New Orleans was without its center, Tyson Chandler, who was with his wife and newborn child, but the Nuggets’ posts didn’t take advantage of the void. Center Nene scored only nine points with two rebounds, and Kenyon Martin finished with just six and six.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
