WASHINGTON — The Nuggets had just KO’d the King and the Cavaliers, euphoria filling the cramped locker room, and there sat Chauncey Billups, talking about the Washington Wizards.
“Tomorrow, I think, is an even bigger game,” Billups said Thursday, and did so with a straight face. “We don’t want to take three steps forward and then take some steps backward. So, we got to forget about this one and worry about a big one tomorrow.”
About 24 hours later, after losing 107-97 to the woebegone Wizards, Billups again sat in front of his locker, explaining the inexplicable.
“We’ve done this too many times this year,” the point guard said. “It’s easy to do in November, but now we’re in the end of February and we’re still making the same kind of mistakes (against teams with losing records). It’s disappointing, especially when we have our goals set with where we’re trying to go. We can’t have these kind of slip-ups.”
Yes, Denver was emotionally exhausted after Thursday’s big win — and the ensuing postmidnight travel — but the Wizards (19-33) aren’t exactly title contenders. Denver is. Yet the new-look Wizards (four key players were traded in the past week) scrapped all night, climbing out of a 13-point hole in the third quarter to snatch the lead in the fourth. Denver’s record fell to 36-19.
“At the end of the day, when it was winning time in the fourth quarter, they wanted it more than we did, and it was obvious,” said Billups, who scored a game-high 28 points but had just two assists. “They got second- chance points, offensive rebounds, steals, beating us to the punch. Most of the time — in any games at any level — the team that’s going to do that is going to win.”
Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who hails from nearby Baltimore, traditionally plays well in his lone homecoming game each season. In his career, he averages 24.6 points per game, but in the six games in D.C. entering Friday, he averaged 28.1, which is actually skewed against him because he scored an efficient 23 points in just 26 minutes last season.
Coming off the best game of his season Thursday, Melo was hot again Friday, making six of his first eight shots. But he made just one more from the field, finishing with 23 points, this time in 34 minutes. Melo wasn’t Melo, getting rattled by Al Thornton for much of the night.
“Shots that I made last night, I didn’t make them tonight. It happens,” Anthony said. “They capitalized on our missed shots and converted them.”
The Nuggets thrive when they pass crisply and consistently — they are 29-5 when they have 20 or more assists. That means they’re 7-13 when they tally fewer than 20. Make that 7-14. The Nuggets had just 12 Friday.
“If we don’t pass it, we’re not a great team,” coach George Karl said. “We have a selfish disposition at times. Sometimes it might come from fatigue, sometimes complacency. But you can’t beat anybody with 12 assists. It’s just a joke. We should be much more mature and understanding (that) if that’s the way we’re going to try to beat people, we’re going to have nights like tonight.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Set up for a letdown
This season the Nuggets are 4-0 against the NBA’s hottest teams — the Lakers and Cavaliers — but just 1-3 in games immediately following those wins:
Nov. 13 vs. Lakers 105-79
Nov. 17 vs. Toronto 130-112
Jan. 8 vs. Cleveland 99-97
Jan. 9 at Sacramento 100-102
Feb. 5 at Lakers 126-113
Feb. 6 at Utah 106-116
Feb. 18 at Cleveland 118-116
Feb. 19 at Washington 97-107
