The last Game 3 the Nuggets played turned out to be a pothole, and they were tripped up by a New Orleans team playing desperate basketball to get back into the series.
Saturday, the Nuggets give the Game 3 concept another try, this time at Dallas. Nuggets coach George Karl said the team brought regular-season intensity to a playoff game the first time. So what have they learned from that?
“Just don’t lose,” Karl joked.
Then he turned serious.
“There’s a growing-up process in playoff basketball that some of our guys haven’t gone through,” Karl said. “We made a mistake in Game 3 in round one. Can we not make that mistake in the second round? We’ve talked about it. We talked about maybe being too happy. And to be a confident team but to understand that being hungry and humble is better than being cocky and arrogant.”
Team game.
On Tuesday, Chauncey Billups praised Carmelo Anthony for being able to take his pride and ego out of the equation and play team basketball. On Wednesday, Anthony explained his new state of mind.
“I want to play my role,” Anthony. “I’ll take the role-player position when Chauncey got it or J.R got it going or anybody got it going. I don’t want to try to go out there and force anything. When it’s my time, then I’ll make sure I’m ready.”
Travel plans.
The Nuggets are scheduled to fly to Dallas this morning and practice there in the afternoon.
Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post
