MIAMI — Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points on Friday.
The rest of Denver’s starters had 17.
And, yes, the Nuggets lost 96-88 at Miami, and might have lost Kenyon Martin.
The power forward had played just 12 minutes when he left in the second quarter with a lower left leg contusion. Martin’s X-rays at halftime were inconclusive, but he didn’t return to the game. He will be re-evaluated today in Atlanta. Martin is arguably Denver’s top defender and one of the team’s leaders. And, man, they could have used his “D” in Miami.
The Nuggets played perhaps their worst quarter of the season in the second quarter, only to top it with an even worse quarter in the third.
The game was tied at 33 with 5:57 left in the first half, but by halftime Miami led 50-38. The Heat outscored the Nuggets 27-17 in the second, and in the third, they had a 28-18 edge. The Nuggets allowed Miami to shoot 68.8 percent in the third quarter, and the Heat entered the fourth quarter up 78-56.
For the night, Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups scored just six points with two assists in 31 minutes, an un-Chauncey night, to say the least.
Give Denver’s bench credit. The Nuggets clawed back into the game, thanks to the energy of Renaldo Balkman (six points, six rebounds), Arron Afflalo (18 points) and others, cutting the lead to just 11 with 3:39 left. But the Heat prevailed.
The loss was Denver’s first of the season; both teams are now 5-1. The Nuggets play the Hawks tonight at 5 p.m. at Atlanta.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
