OKLAHOMA CITY — This is how winners win.
Down 13 points in the fourth quarter at Oklahoma City, the Nuggets surged back to win a how’d-they-do-that game Wednesday, 98-94. The victory came thanks to 15 fourth-quarter points by Chauncey Billups, the thumping heart of this team, with four games left on the regular season.
The Nuggets (51-27) went over 11 minutes in the second half without a field goal, but Billups spearheaded the amazing comeback.
Denver forward Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points but got to the line like he’s used to – 10-for-11, including the two clinchers with 6.8 seconds left.
Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo, fired up in the first half with a technical foul, channeled that intensity to log one of his better shooting nights, going 7-for-14 for 17 points, while playing 38 tough minutes.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant, who will battle Anthony for a spot on the prestigious NBA first-team, put up an LeBron-type night, finishing with 33 points, 11 rebounds and four assists — and he also notched the highlight of the night, a how-did-he-stay-in-the-air-that-long tomahawk dunk over Joey Graham.
Durant played mad. It was the night before that he scored 45 points in the overtime loss at Utah. Durant missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but on Wednesday the NBA announced that the officials had missed the foul committed on the Thunder sharpshooter — which would have given Durant a chance to win the game from the foul line.
And boy, there was a scary moment in the third quarter.
In the final minute, Anthony was called for traveling and fell to the court, after bumping his head into Durant. It was a bizarre situation. With Anthony on the ground in the lane, the Thunder inbounded the ball and passed it up court, but it was stolen by J.R. Smith. The officials didn’t hear Adrian Dantley calling a timeout and Smith didn’t see Anthony, sprawled on the floor under the basket, so Smith drove to the basket.
Finally, the officials stopped play and trainer Jim Gillen darted onto the court. Anthony left the court, but checked back into the game with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter.
Thunder fans gave Anthony a standing ovation when he left the court — thinking the worst — but when Melo returned, the fans booed, as if he had wasted their time with the non-serious injury.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
