ORLANDO, Fla. — The year was 2010 — Charlie Sheen was sane, nobody had heard of Morehead State and the Nuggets were bad at defense and bad on the road.
Seems like ages ago.
The Nuggets, showcasing some inspired defense, are not just good on the road, they’re making history. With their dominating victory at Atlanta on Wednesday night, the Nuggets did something they had never done — win three consecutive road games, each by 10 or more points, each against a team with a winning record. (The last time they won two such games was in 1979.)
Well, road warriors, here’s your reward — a game tonight at Orlando, followed by a back-to-back game Saturday at Miami to complete a four-game road trip.
“We talked about not having any fear, but having the respect that we’re still a team trying to figure out what we’re going to do,” said Nuggets coach George Karl, whose team is 9-2 since trading Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. “Play hard and play together are the keys. It’s not the strategies.”
The Nuggets have been blessed with depth with the acquisition of “Knuggets” Raymond Felton and Wilson Chandler — and the third member of that trio, Danilo Gallinari, could play tonight for the first time since Feb. 25. That was the night Gallinari scored 30 points at Portland but also fractured the big toe on his left foot.
At the Nuggets’ practice Thursday, Gallinari was going at it hard, playing intense one-on-one basketball.
“We’ll see,” he said about playing tonight. “I had a chance to run and jump and was trying to get some contact.”
Karl said, “I think he’ll play.” The coach also noted, however, that Gallinari has seemed tentative in some workouts. Karl said if Gallinari does play, it’ll be for about 20 minutes off the bench.
Even without Gallinari, the team-first Nuggets have been playing motivated basketball by moving the basketball. After the victory against Atlanta, three different Nuggets used the word “fun” to describe their style.
“Our philosophy is very simple,” Karl said. “We want to attack the rim and get 30 free throws a game. And if you take away those two, we’re going to find the 3-ball. If you come out quick (defensively) on the 3-ball, then we’re just going to go to the rim again.
“The Spurs do it pretty well. We’re probably not as good as they are. But we’re copycats.”
Before the trade, the Nuggets played both Florida teams in Denver and beat them both (however, Le- Bron James didn’t play for Miami in Denver).
“They’ll be out for blood,” Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said. “But we’ve started out the road trip the right way, taking care of business and playing hard. I don’t think there’s going to be any difference the way we play those two games.
“We know they’re good teams, two of the better teams in the East, but we’re not going out just to show up. We’re going out there to win.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Road warriors
The Nuggets have won three consecutive road games by double-digit margins, all against teams with winning records. This is a first in franchise history. A closer look:
NUGGETS 102, HAWKS 87
Star: Wilson Chandler, 14 points, 10 rebounds
Notable: Nuggets had 26 assists, just 12 turnovers
NUGGETS 114, HORNETS 103
Star: Ty Lawson, 23 points, 10 assists
Notable: Nuggets won rebounding battle 43-31
NUGGETS 116, SUNS 97
Star: Lawson, 20 points, 11 assists
Notable: Nuggets had 51 rebounds, 28 assists
Denver at Orlando
5 p.m. tonight, ALT, 950 AM
Spotlight on Dwight Howard: “I don’t think there’s any question,” Nuggets coach George Karl said, “the vast majority of their sets are Howard in post-ups or Howard in pick-and-rolls. And his positioning after the pick-and-roll is how you must defend.” The Nuggets’ Nene will have his hands full with his big-man counterpart, though Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen and even Timofey Mozgov could get some minutes defending Howard.
Nuggets: Nene has averaged 18.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in the last four games while shooting 67.9 percent from the field. . . . In its most recent game (at Atlanta), Denver outrebounded (43-35) and outshot (.534 to .415) the Hawks. The Nuggets are 24-1 this season when outrebounding and outshooting the opposition. . . . Asked about his team in tight fourth quarters, coach George Karl said: “I don’t know who’s going to finish on most nights. The other team can’t know what we’re going to do because we don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re just experimenting with the flow of the game.”
Magic: Orlando lost at Denver 111-94 on Dec. 12, but guard J.J. Redick scored a career-high 29 points off the bench, including six 3-pointers on nine attempts. . . . The Magic has defeated Denver 19 of the 22 times the teams have played in Orlando. . . . In Orlando’s last game, an overtime win at Milwaukee, Hedo Turkoglu scored 19 points, including 14 in the second half and overtime. . . . In 2002, Orlando gave Masai Ujiri his first NBA job as an international scout. Ujiri now is Denver’s executive vice president of basketball operations, and he worked side by side with team president Josh Kroenke on the Carmelo Anthony trade.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
