SALT LAKE CITY — If this was a statement game, then the Nuggets whimpered: No mas.
During a 105-93 loss Friday night to Utah that was far more embarrassing than the score would indicate, the Nuggets quit on interim coach Adrian Dantley.
Veteran guard Chauncey Billups fought until the bitter end of Game 3, which left Denver down 2-1 in this best-of-seven series.
The rest of a dispirited team, however, took its cue from Dantley’s look of helpless resignation on the bench as Utah blew open the contest in the second half.
The no mas Nuggets sat there and took it.
“Disappointed? Yeah,” Dantley said Friday. “We’ve got to come back and win one game. I don’t know if it was just effort, or guys didn’t feel good about themselves, or they just didn’t feel confident. But we’ve got to get our confidence back.”
Dunking and chest-thumping their way through the NBA playoffs a year ago, the Nuggets earned a well-deserved reputation as bullies.
Remember how brutally sweet it was? Denver broke the spirit of New Orleans. The Nuggets intimidated Dallas until Mavs owner Mark Cuban went crying to Kenyon Martin’s mother. The upstart team of the Western Conference pushed Los Angeles to the limit.
This Denver team, however, doesn’t have the same swagger or any real sense of purpose.
“X’s and O’s got to go out the window. We’ve just got to fight. Our effort wasn’t there. It did not even seem like a playoff game,” said forward Carmelo Anthony, who scored 25 points.
It appears the no mas Nuggets are looking for a soft spot to land when they are bounced from the opening round.
With core beliefs as set as the square jaw of veteran coach Jerry Sloan, the Jazz is country strong and just plain tougher than Denver.
Was Utah the more determined team of stronger will?
“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that,” Billups said. “They play physical, and they play that way for 48 straight minutes.”
George Karl, his voice and body still weak from fighting cancer, tries to coach from his sick bed, sending advice and offering ideas to his entourage of assistants. From Tim Grgurich to Chad Iske, there are good basketball minds among all of Karl’s men, but none have been properly groomed to lead in his absence. That’s the danger of an ego as big as Karl’s residing in the big chair of any organization.
Martin isn’t the scowling, growling K-Mart the Nuggets need. Maybe it’s his injury. His heart is willing, but he’s weak in the knees. But there’s no polite way to say it: Utah forward Paul Millsap has wiped the floor with Martin.
While Chris Andersen once put forth 100 percent effort with every fiber of his soul, the “Birdman” now too often appears to be just another sellout, more interested in selling trucks or mattresses in television commercials than blocking shots and running the floor.
The back-alley nastiness of former defensive stopper Dahntay Jones is most sorely missed at playoff time, when his sandpaper personality could make foes chafe.
The Nuggets led 27-16 early in the first quarter of Game 3, as Utah missed 17 of its opening 23 field-goal attempts. Dantley, however, wrecked the momentum in the second quarter with a lineup that appeared to be drawn out of a hat: Ty Lawson, Arron Affalo, J.R. Smith, Andersen and Martin.
The Jazz tied the game at 29 barely two minutes into the period. Dantley called timeout. It was too late. The intensity on the face of Denver players quickly faded to disinterest.
Utah led by as many as 23 points after halftime.
“That third quarter was frustrating. They opened up that lead and opened up that gap in a major way,” Billups said. “You go from having a really pretty good first half to now, man, you’re down 16 on the road. And it’s a frustrating feeling.”
Lose Game 4 and all that talk by the Nuggets of growing into a legitimate championship contender will be reduced to nothing more than hollow words.
Utah has pushed Denver to the brink.
Do the no mas Nuggets have it inside them to push back?
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
