This is what the Denver Nuggets had in mind when they acquired Allen Iverson to go with Carmelo Anthony. The high-scoring All-Star duo provided the offense and the Nuggets were tough defensively, too, as they beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-89 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series Sunday night.
Forward Carmelo Anthony #15 of the Denver Nuggets reacts after a 95-89 win against the San Antonio Spurs in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2007 NBA Playoffs at ATT Center on April 22, 2007 in San Antonio, Texas. [AP] |
Iverson scored 29 of his 31 after the first quarter and Anthony added 30 points for the sixth-seeded Nuggets, who haven't won a playoff series since 1994.
Nene added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Marcus Camby grabbed 10 boards for Denver. The big guys also made things difficult for Tim Duncan, who scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds for the Spurs.
Tony Parker led third-seeded San Antonio with 19 points, followed by Michael Finley with 15 and Robert Horry with 14.
Denver traded for Iverson in December, hoping the former MVP would combine with Anthony to form an unstoppable 1-2 punch. The two averaged 55 points a game, but not until late in the season did the Nuggets start to win consistently.
The Spurs won the season series with Denver, 2-1, but that was hardly a good gauge of how this series would go. The Nuggets were without Anthony in the first matchup and Iverson had just returned from an injury for the second. Their third meeting was the last regular season game and Denver won a meaningless 100-77 rout.
With their stars now aligned, the Nuggets got the road win they'll need to pull of the upset.
Nene's dunk off a pass from the driving Iverson made it 80-77. Anthony's 3 and a basket by Iverson were followed by another Iverson-to-Nene combination to close an 11-0 Denver run and give the Nuggets a 10-point lead -- their biggest of the game -- with 3:27 left.
After Denver failed to get the ball over the half court line in time with under a minute to play, Parker hit a layup for the Spurs to bring them within 91-87 with 43.8 left.
Iverson missed his next shot, and Parker's under the basket pass to Duncan for a dunk made it 91-89 Nuggets with 17.9 to go.
But Anthony and Nene hit two free throws a piece after each was fouled by Duncan to extend the lead to 95-89 with 11.6 seconds left and seal the game for the Nuggets.