In the second quarter of Tuesday night’s Game 2 against the Dallas Mavericks, Carmelo Anthony’s stomach cramped so painfully, he asked to rest on the bench. At halftime, the Nuggets star told a staff member the pain was “killing me.” After three quarters, he had just 10 points.
It just didn’t seem like it was his night, until he made it his night.
In the Nuggets’ 117-105 victory at the Pepsi Center, Anthony took over in the fourth quarter, which Denver began up just three points. He scored 15 fourth-quarter points and contributed a crowd-raising assist to Nene as Dallas went belly-up.
“It was just a weak stomach. I didn’t have any type of energy,” said Anthony, who finished with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. “My first step felt slow tonight, I couldn’t make any moves, I didn’t feel like myself. But I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t feel anything, just play.’ ”
And here’s a fact more uplifting than Chris Andersen checking into a game. In the history of NBA seven-game postseason series, including this year’s first round, teams that went up 2-0 won 93 percent of the time. Next up is Game 3 on Saturday in Dallas.
On a day when TNT’s Charles Barkley said the Nuggets could win the NBA championship, they played like they know their ring size, at least when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.
Nene strutted around the paint like a college quarterback in a campus bar. For the second game in a row, Denver’s agile and spry big man dominated Dallas’ Erick Dam-pier, who is methodical and sloshes around the low post like he’s stuck in a foot of water.
In Game 1, Nene scored 24 points. On Tuesday, he one-upped himself, scoring 25, tying Melo for the team high. Sometimes he banged his body into the helpless hulk, other times he lofted a soft jumper in Dampier’s face.
Nene helped Denver own the low post Tuesday, with the Nuggets scoring 50 points in the paint compared with the Mavericks’ 34.
Dallas’ big men, notably Dampier and Ryan Hollins, battled foul trouble all night.
“They have a tough time figuring out how to cover Nene,” Denver coach George Karl said. “He got to the free-throw line more than he gets to in the season. He has a knack of finding the hole and window for easy baskets.”
Dallas’ Jason Terry won the NBA’s sixth man award and Denver’s J.R. Smith finished second. Fittingly, both remarkable reserves scored 21 points. As for Smith, who hits 3-pointers with the consistency of layups, he made three for the night.
But he also dusted off some of that old knucklehead in him, forcing a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the first half. The miss gave Dallas enough time to score and Jason Kidd did just that, hitting a buzzer-beating 3 that cut Denver’s lead to 58-55.
Similar to the previous round, when ankle injuries rendered New Orleans’ Tyson Chandler useless, the same scenario could be happening against Dallas. Josh Howard suffered a right ankle injury in the first game and played only six minutes Tuesday before calling it a night. Howard had averaged 18.2 points in the postseason, but Tuesday he went scoreless.
Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki was sensational in a losing effort. He scored a game-high 35 points, hitting 11-of-20 shots from the field and 12-of-13 at the free-throw line.
But after Terry’s 21 points, the next highest-scoring Maverick was Antoine Wright, who scored just 10 points.
On this night, Anthony shone brightest when it counted most.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Highlights
Billups heats up.
At halftime, Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups was 0-for-4 from 3-point range, but he went 4-for-5 in the second half.
Good ball movement.
The Nuggets finished with 28 assists (Billups had a game-high eight) and committed only 10 turnovers.
Lowlights
Twin technicals.
In the second quarter, Kenyon Martin attempted a dunk and became tangled up with Ryan Hollins, and a double technical was called (Martin’s third technical of the postseason).
Kidd’s game.
Jason Kidd had just four points in 37 1/2 minutes.
Benajmin Hochman, The Denver Post
3-Pointers
The Denver Post’s Chris Dempsey revisits three questions raised before Game 2 of the Nuggets-Mavs series:
1. Can the Nuggets turn in a similar defensive effort?
Yes and no. In the first quarter Tuesday night, the Nuggets sure did, holding the Mavericks to 28.6 percent shooting from the field. But Dallas lit up Denver in the second quarter, making 14-of-21 shots. The Mavericks also came out strong in the third quarter to take the lead. But when it counted, the Nuggets clamped down in the fourth quarter, holding Dallas to two points in a five-minute stretch while they pulled away.
2. Will the Nuggets’ offensive efficiency remain high?
Yes. The Nuggets passed the ball well in the first half, getting 15 assists on 17 made shots. Veteran guard Chauncey Billups didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half (0-for-5), but he dished out six assists. J.R. Smith continued to improve as a playmaker, handing out three assists in the first half. Dallas tried a zone defense to slow the Nuggets and even used a box-and-one concept for one possession, with the defender shadowing Billups.
3. Was Nene’s Game 1 a sign of things to come or a flash in the pan?
Apparently it was a sign of things to come. Nene made a living running the court and cutting behind defenders who had their heads turned in Game 1. He continued to shine using both concepts in Game 2, scoring 25 points (8-of-12 shooting) against the Mavericks’ big men.
