PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland faithful painfully climbed the Rose Garden stairs, a few folks occasionally peered down at the court, as if maybe, just maybe, it didn’t actually happen.
But it did — down one point to Denver with 4.6 seconds left, Greg Oden missed two free throws, and the Nuggets proceeded to win Thursday’s thriller, 97-94.
It’s not even November, and the Nuggets have notched what could be the biggest win of the season.
Consider this:
• It was against arguably Denver’s toughest division foe.
• It was the second game of a back-to-back, after the Nuggets arrived at their Portland hotel at 4 a.m.
• Denver played without suspended sharpshooter J.R. Smith.
• And it was a road win at the thunderous and thorny Rose Garden.
Things are getting real fun, real fast.
“I told them after the game, ‘You have an amazing way of figuring out how to win games,’ ” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
A season ago, Denver and Portland each finished 54-28, but the Nuggets won the tiebreaker and, thus, the Northwest Division. Well, this season, many feel the Blazers (1-1) could be even better. But the Nuggets (2-0) stole a crucial road win (the teams play each other just three more times), and Denver did so following Wednesday’s win against Utah, another contender for the division crown.
“The first two games, they weren’t just important, they were battles, two fights we had to win,” said Denver forward Carmelo Anthony, who scored a game-high 41 points.
Thursday’s game was the first of what should be four intense battles with the Trail Blazers this season. Consider the next game a gift — it’s on Christmas night, back here in Portland.
For stretches, though, Thursday’s game was Nick Nolte-mugshot ugly. By the half, with Denver down 43-42, Anthony was the only Nugget with more than two field goals. And for the night, Portland shot (if you can call it that) 34.6 percent from the field.
“I just think defensively is where we’re going to make our biggest improvement this season,” Karl said. “A game like tonight, it was just finding the energy to compete.”
But the Nuggets prevailed, thanks to the man who not only was their top scorer, but who grabbed the tough rebound on Oden’s second miss.
Anthony scored in an encore. After notching 30 points in Wednesday’s season-opener, the Nuggets’ small forward poured in a game-high 41, shooting 11-for-21 from the field and 18-for-19 from the line.
Anthony was greeted by a chorus of boos during pregame introductions — Reggie Jackson once said, “They don’t boo nobodies” — and Melo erupted early with 12 first-quarter points. Portland, to its credit, made adjustments on Anthony for the third quarter, keeping Melo from Melo-ing them as much, but late in the fourth quarter, Anthony was savvy, getting to the line 10 times.
“I was just trying to attack, man,” he said. “I was getting to the rim. And I kept my composure out there after getting my side beat up all night.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
