Joseph Karl “was a total nonathlete and didn’t understand the athletic world,” his son said, but would proudly attend his son’s games and embrace the foreign world of basketball.
“But he did always say,” George Karl said, “what he liked about athletics was you can do things they can never take away from you. If you win the division, it’s our division, we’re on that team forever. It’s something we can brag about years from now. I think it’s a pretty good standard to live by.”
Joe Karl’s son coached the Nuggets to the Northwest Division title Monday night — and Denver tied its franchise record for NBA victories — with a 118-98 win over the Sacramento Kings at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets (54-27) have one regular-season game left, Wednesday at Portland. If the Nuggets win or Houston loses, they secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, which begin this weekend.
A loss to the lowly Kings (16-65) would have been devastating to the Nuggets because it could have ended their shot at the No. 2 seed and, possibly, the division title.
The Kings were in the game most of the way, trailing by three points with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. But Linas Kleiza led the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter surge. And when J.R. Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers near the six-minute mark, their lead was 100-83.
Smith, who has been a firestarter off the Nuggets’ bench all season, finished the game with a career-high 45 points — including 11 3-pointers.
Kleiza, who has had an up-and-down season, picked a nice night to peak, finishing with 17 points in 23 minutes.
