The Milwaukee Bucks are no longer the Milwaukee Bucks. They now win on occasion, things like that.
OK, now with that out there . . . what in the name of Ersan Ilyasova happened Saturday night at the Pepsi Center?
Denver was 30-5 at home and hosting the Bucks, who had fought through a double-overtime win the very night before. But the championship-talking Nuggets lost 102-97, even though Bucks stars Andrew Bogut (two points) and Brandon Jennings (nine points) were irrelevant.
“They got here at 4 in the morning,” Denver’s Nene said. “And they looked fresher than us.”
Games are slipping off the schedule, and Denver (47-23) needs every one to stay ahead of Dallas (46-23) for that coveted No. 2 spot in the West. But the Nuggets played Saturday like it was mid-November. Or worse — they played like late-Aughts Bucks.
The Nuggets had just 13 assists (and 11 turnovers), sharing the ball as much as one of those streetball teams. And Denver shot 37.2 percent (37.2 percent!), the second-lowest total of the season. And three guys — Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith — took 62 of Denver’s 86 shots. They made just 20.
“I think we need to develop a proper rhythm to how we’re playing — to what we’re doing as a unit,” said Denver guard Arron Afflalo, one of the league’s top 3-point shooters, who took two shots in 23 minutes Saturday against Milwaukee (38-30).
Adrian Dantley filled in again for coach George Karl, who is valiantly battling throat and neck cancer. After the game, Dantley took the blame for Denver’s what-in-the- world defense, which allowed Milwaukee to shoot 46.1 percent and stay in the game despite two of its top scorers being MIA (to be fair, John Salmons had 26, Carlos Delfino 21 and the aforementioned Ilyasova had 14 off the bench).
“We didn’t do a good job on transition defense, they had a lot of wide-open shots,” Dantley said. “I take responsibility for that, because guys shouldn’t have open shots like that. I thought we went over everything defensively (in shootaround). That shouldn’t happen.”
Perhaps the statement play of the game happened in the fourth quarter, when the Nuggets (who hadn’t led since 59-56), tried to climb out of the hole but never could surpass a tie. Anthony soared toward the basket for a layup, when — out of nowhere — Kurt Thomas met Melo in midair and stuffed the shot with Birdman brawn.
It was that type of night for the Nuggets, who were pushed around in their own house.
“At this point in the season, I don’t see any moral victories in losses,” Afflalo said. “We’re in position to push for a higher seed, and we have to take advantage of games like this on our home court.”
And now, Denver has the task of finding wins on the road — five road games in all — at New York and Boston (a back-to- back) and then Toronto, followed finally by a back-to-back at Orlando and Dallas, the latter of which likely will be the biggest game of the season. The Nuggets better start passing fast.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Carmelo Anthony sprained his left ring finger but played through the injury. . . . Denver normally has an eight-man rotation, but with Kenyon Martin and Ty Lawson out, acting coach Adrian Dantley filled holes by going 10 deep. . . . This was the first loss this season when Denver outrebounded an opponent by double digits (53-40). It’s the first time since 2006-07 the team went three straight games scoring fewer than 100 points.
Final thought
Who were those guys wearing the Nuggets’ uniforms?
Up next
Tuesday at New York, 5:30 p.m.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
