To the untrained eye, Carmelo Anthony’s Sunday looked mundane.
Twenty-three points, nearly seven fewer than his average, complemented by a paltry four rebounds.
But Melo had a team-high eight assists, and Denver beat Boston, 114-105, in a Pepsi Center matinee.
In the past five games, Denver has defeated Dallas, Cleveland and Boston, and in those games, Anthony tallied six, seven and eight assists. The other two games, Anthony had three and one — and Denver lost both.
But Sunday, the Nuggets won wire-to-wire, and they are now 37-19 on the season.
NBA teams play just one game on the road against each opponent from the other conference. Entering Sunday, Boston (35-19) had won five games at Western Conference opponents who had winning records, including their past two games. But at the Pepsi Center, the Celtics couldn’t get into a groove, trailing by 20 at one point. And all-star forward Paul Pierce, battling a thumb injury, was appalling, shooting 2-for-10 from the field, finishing with just five points.
Nuggets guard J.R. Smith finally showed up in the fourth quarter. After going 1-for-7 in the first three quarters, he hit four important 3-pointers, the first giving Denver a 12-point lead with 7:50 left, and the others inflating the Nuggets’ cushion. He finished with 19 points off the bench.
The last time these two teams met, 363 days ago, the Celtics won in Denver, 114-76. The 38-point loss was the third-worst home loss in Nuggets history.
On Sunday, Denver let Boston creep back into the game, thanks to a bevy of bricks from the foul line. By halftime, the Nuggets were just 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) and for the night, Denver shot 25-for-40 (62.5 percent). Combined, Chauncey Billups and Anthony were 18-for-19, and the rest of the team was 7-for-21, including Chris Andersen’s abysmal 1-for-7.
Really, that was the only blemish on Birdman’s otherwise brilliant day. After resting his lower back strain on Friday, he returned to play 32 minutes (three off a season high), scoring nine points with six rebounds and four blocks, including a tomahawk spike of a Tony Allen layup attempt.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
