MILWAUKEE — If Corey Brewer keeps this up, he could become the most popular Florida Gator in Denver.
Jokes aside, Brewer erupted Tuesday night in the Nuggets’ 105-95 road victory at a sleepy Bradley Center. The reserve forward scored a season-high 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while zipping and zig-zagging, shot-blocking and sky-walking.
“He brings energy to our team, and usually energy and aggressiveness are positive personalities of a successful team,” said Denver coach George Karl, whose team is 9-5.
Karl remained perturbed about the Nuggets’ home loss Sunday to the Jazz. That and the recent home loss to New Orleans are two that could come back to haunt Denver when it comes time for playoff seeding.
But tonight, the Nuggets have a chance to make up for one of them with a win against a tough Philadelphia squad — the 76ers (10-3) are 6-0 at home, and Denver is playing the second game of a back-to-back.
But the Nuggets started this road swing off swimmingly, tallying 17 first-half fast-break points at Milwaukee.
“They just ran right by us,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “That was point No. 1 in the game plan, and obviously we failed.”
Karl had been trying to come up with creative ways to get Brewer more minutes. This wasn’t one of them. Reserve Rudy Fernandez didn’t play because of a right Achilles tendon strain, and Karl doesn’t think Fernandez will play tonight. And so, there was Brewer in the first quarter, soaring for an energizing dunk. And in the second, hitting a 3-pointer from the corner. And then, on the next possession, running the floor and getting fouled on a layup transition. And in the third, splashing another 3 from the corner for his 20th point, giving him a season high in just 22 minutes.
The bench was big. Brewer, Al Harrington, Chris Andersen and Andre Miller combined for 51 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists (11 from Miller).
“When we come in, we’ve got to try to pick up the pace — make things happen,” said Brewer, who has averaged 11.3 points in the past six games.
The Nuggets’ defense was superb against the Bucks (4-9), who were playing the second game of a back-to-back but were 4-0 at home.
Denver’s Nene and Timofey Mozgov clamped down on Andrew Bogut, who scored just two points.
“I don’t think his rhythm or confidence is at a high level right now,” Karl said of Bogut, “and I think we benefited from that.”
Meanwhile, Brewer is causing a Karl conundrum. The coach again said he wants to play the small forward more minutes, but the coach also adores Fernandez.
But the more Karl sees from Brewer, the more he realizes what he has.
“Corey has been well-coached in his time, and I think he’s a very knowledgeable basketball player, especially with concepts,” Karl said. “Some of the younger guys — and even veteran guys — don’t pick up on defensive changes or things we want to do. The thing that has surprised me was that I knew he was fast in the open court, but his basketball IQ is higher than I thought it was.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Nuggets Recap
What you might have missed
Denver guard Arron Afflalo made his first three shots, yet finished 4-for-11 for 11 points. But the shooting guard was 3-for-4 from 3-point range. … Al Harrington ripped a ball from Tobias Harris, thrusting the rookie to the floor — a welcome-to-the-NBA moment.
Final thought
If you get 27 assists on 32 baskets, you might win.
Up next
At Philadelphia, tonight, 5 p.m.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
DENVER AT PHILADELPHIA
5 p.m. tonight, ALT2, 1510 AM, 93.7 FM
Spotlight on Andre Iguodala: It should be fun to watch Iguodala, one of the league’s more voracious defenders, go against Denver’s Danilo Gallinari, a versatile small forward. Iguodala has also scored 20-plus points in the past two games and was recently named a finalist for Team USA.
Benjamin Hochman , The Denver Post
