The 2013-14 New Jersey Nets? The 2014-15 Knicks?
How about the 2010-11 Nuggets?
While Carmelo Anthony has one eye on the future, the present is pretty exciting, too — down two big men against the biggest team in the West, the Nuggets knocked out the Lakers on Thursday at the Pepsi Center, 118-112, serving up the first loss to the defending champions this season.
Yes, it’s just one game, but it was a thrilling evening, with Melo and his teammates all contributing to the big win.
Following an abysmal performance at Indiana, Anthony made his first two shots of the night and had a pretty productive evening — and down the stretch, he was uncompromising. He hit two clutch jumpers to expand an airtight lead to nine with a little over two minutes left. He finished with 32 points and 13 rebounds. And what about Ty Lawson? Holy-moly. The Nuggets guard entered the fourth quarter with pedestrian numbers — six points and one assist — but the little cannonball exploded in the fourth quarter, catapulting the Nuggets to the lead. When Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 7:39 left, it gave Denver a 101-95 lead — and the Pepsi Center was the loudest it had been all year.
The Lakers led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but the Nuggets made a furious fourth-quarter comeback, fueled by reserves Lawson, J.R. Smith and Gary Forbes. And with 8:48, the game reset at 95-95.
At shootaround Thursday, Denver coach George Karl praised Nene, who had come out strong in recent games following a groin strain injury. And against the mighty Lakers, Nene went 0-for-4 in the first quarter but 4-for-5 in the second and finished with 18 points in 31 minutes and five rebounds too.
In the first half, Nuggets such as Arron Afflalo and even Forbes did a gritty job at rattling Kobe Bryant, who was 4-for-15 from the field in the half, missing an array of jumpers.
But in the third quarter, Kobe caught fire. And his second straight 3, with Smith right in his face, gave L.A. an 85-76 lead and forced a Denver timeout.
Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to notch 26,000 points (keeping in mind he did come out of high school). He did so at 32 years and 80 days, passing Wilt Chamberlain (32 years, 114 days) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33 years, 331 days).
Kobe finished with a game-high 34 but was 11-for-32 from the field, perhaps the difference on the night.
Last season, the Nuggets won both games at the Pepsi Center against the Lakers (as well as stealing one in L.A.). This season, the Nuggets only face L.A. three times — the Lakers return to the Pepsi Center on Jan. 21 and then Denver travels to the Staples Center on April 3. Should be fun.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
