Nuggets snare big win, reach 50 for season

George Karl didn’t miss another chance to say nobody expected the Nuggets to have the type of season they’ve enjoyed. But this time the semi-gloating statement came with a twist.

The Nuggets coach admitted even he didn’t think the team would be this good.

“I don’t think any of you guys thought we would win 50 this year,’’ Karl told reporters after his Nuggets manhandled Utah 114-104 Thursday night at the Pepsi Center to raise their record to 50-26. “I did a realistic and idealistic (wins prediction after the Nuggets acquired guard Chauncey Billups on Nov. 3). I had us at 52 or 53 if everything went the right way. Realistically, we thought we would be 46 to 49.’’

The Nuggets have six games left to smash Karl’s idealistic prediction. And Thursday they smashed the Jazz in what was expected to be a big game had Utah cooperated.

Instead, the Jazz (46-29) are all but done in the Northwest Division, dropping 3 ½ games behind Denver.

Utah, which is a woeful 14-23 on the road, did look for much of the first quarter as if it was tired of playing the role of an armadillo on a Texas highway, taking a 22-11 lead. But that didn’t last long as the Jazz was outscored 103-82 the rest of the game.

“(The win) was real important,’’ said guard J.R. Smith, whose Nuggets are two games ahead of Portland (47-27) in the Northwest. “It was a game we couldn’t give up. It was a playoff atmosphere, so it gets us prepared for the first round.’’

Smith sure looks to be in playoff form. He drilled 8-of-13 three-pointers en route to a game-high 28 points.

Smith surprised even himself, especially in the first half when he shot 6-of-7 from three-point range for 21 points in giving Denver a 54-43 lead.

“It was unbelievable,’’ said Smith, who made eight three-pointers in a game for the third time for the Nuggets, again falling one shy of the team record held by Michael Adams and Bryant Stith. “I was shocked at some of my shots.’’

Smith hit most of his shots from Golden. He made one from 29 feet, two from 27, three from 26 and two from 25.

“His range was four or five feet behind the line,’’ said Karl, who might not want tape-measure jumpers to get to be too much of a habit for Smith. “I’ve always said I don’t mind shooting it from behind there, but he was pushing that a little bit.’’

Nevertheless, Smith’s outburst came at an ideal time considering forward Carmelo Anthony had an off night after scoring 29 or more points in five straight games. Anthony scored 23, but shot just 9-of-25.

But double those 25 shots and that was the number Anthony was talking about. He was beaming about the Nuggets winning 50 games the fastest in the team’s 33-year NBA history and doing it for the second straight season after having not done it for 20 years.

“An exciting season,’’ he said. “But we still want to take care of business and keep this momentum going.’’

Anthony wants to keep it going until deep in the playoffs.

“I’m pretty sure people doubt us,’’ said Anthony, whose team has lost five straight times in the opening round of the playoffs. “They’re not going to believe in us until we get out of the first round. But we like it. We love the challenge.’’

More nights like Thursday and the Nuggets might not have to worry about another early exit. Also coming up big for Denver was reserve center Chris Andersen, who totaled seven points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight blocks.

Five times in his career Andersen has reached seven blocks. He finally topped that in helping hold the Jazz to 36.6 percent shooting.

“It just felt good being in the right position most of the time,’’ Andersen said.

Andersen’s blocks really made the Jazz sing the blues on a night in which the Nuggets wore green jerseys. It’s part of the inaugural NBA Green Week, a league-wide campaign to generate awareness for protecting the environment.

Now, if only the Nuggets could protect forward Kenyon Martin from getting injured.

Just when Martin had recovered from a lower back injury that hampered him from mid-February to mid-March, he suffered a left rib cartilage strain early in the third quarter and was lost for the night.
Martin was in pain after the game, and doesn’t know if he’ll play Saturday against the Clippers.

“It’s frustrating,’’ Martin said of his latest injury.

At least that’s not a general feeling on the Nuggets. Guard Anthony Carter said “everybody is playing with a lot of confidence,’’ and it’s the most confident the team has been all season.

The Nuggets have won 10 of their last 11 games. They throttled Utah’s two post players Thursday, holding Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur to a combined 9-of-35 shooting from the field.

If the season ended today, the Nuggets, currently the No. 2 seed in the West, would meet Utah, currently No. 7, in the first round of the playoffs. That prospect doesn’t bother Denver’s players.

“If we have homecourt advantage, we’ll be all right,’’ Smith said.

The Nuggets have been more than all right lately. Karl doesn’t mind saying so himself.

“There’s always room for celebration,’’ he said. “Fifty wins in the coaching profession is pretty important. It’s a pretty notch in the belt.’’

It’s a notch even Karl wasn’t quite sure he would get this season.