At one point during the historic third quarter, the entire Nuggets bench stood and simultaneously leaned their heads toward Carmelo Anthony, as if their view wasn’t good enough.
Sure enough, Anthony caught a pass on the right wing, just feet from his teammates, and unconsciously sank another 3-pointer.
In Denver’s 116-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony scored 33 of his 45 points in the third quarter, tying an NBA record for points in a quarter. On April 9, 1978, the San Antonio Spurs’ George Gervin scored 33 in one quarter, the same night the Nuggets’ David Thompson scored 32 in one quarter, as the two battled on the last night of the season for the NBA scoring title.
With the win, the Nuggets are 14-4 with Chauncey Billups at point guard. Billups finished with 24 points, six assists and no turnovers.
Anthony missed all five jump shot attempts and Denver trailed 56-44 at the half. But the Nuggets began the third quarter on fire, with a 16-4 run. When Anthony hit a 3-pointer at the 6:30 mark — his first made jumper of the night — it tied the game at 60. From that point, Anthony was unstoppable, calmly splashing 3s and slithering to the basket.
