Nuggets vs. Bobcats Preview
Charlotte, NC (AP) – Denver Nuggets coach George Karl has a chance to join an elite group of names by earning his 1,000th career win. He’d like to get it out of the way as soon as possible.
Looking for the milestone victory, Karl hopes his team can extend its longest winning streak of the season in the opener of a four-game road trip against the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Nuggets 1.5-point spread favorites for Tuesday’s game against the Bobcats. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 88% of more than 517 bets for this game have been placed on the Nuggets –1.5.
Karl is looking to join Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson and Larry Brown in the 1,000-win club. The understated coach, though, would like the attention off him quickly.
“I would probably like it in Charlotte and get it over with and have some beers and keep our momentum going in a good direction,” Karl said.
Karl, in his seventh season with the Nuggets, is seventh all-time and fourth among active coaches in victories.
“He’s a terrific coach,” said Brown, who will oppose Karl from the Bobcats bench. “He’s overcome a lot. I think we’re all proud of what he’s accomplished, and I think he’s going to win a lot more games before he hangs it up.”
Karl missed the final two months of last season while battling throat and neck cancer, only a few years after surviving prostate cancer. Now with a clean bill of health, he has the Nuggets on a seven-game winning streak.
Carmelo Anthony suffered through another off night, but Nene scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting as Denver beat Memphis 108-107 on Sunday.
The Nuggets (13-6) led by 15 at halftime but allowed the Grizzlies to outscore them 30-14 in the third quarter.
“We’ve had a bad habit on this home stretch about getting big leads and losing them,” said guard Arron Afflalo, who scored a season-high 25 points. “So, we have to do a much better job of maintaining our focus and maintaining our lead.”
Anthony was held to 13 points and shot a season-low 20.0 percent (4 for 20). The three-time All Star has averaged 13.8 points and 28.8 percent from the field over his last four games, but he should have a good chance to bounce back Tuesday. He has averaged 32.2 points in six road games versus Charlotte.
Matching that number could go a long way toward helping Karl reach the 1,000-win plateau.
“When you sit back and think about having 1,000 wins, that’s a lot of damn wins, man,” he said. “You sit back and think about how many seasons and how many wins you have to have in each season, that’s a lot. We want to get it done for him.”
The Nuggets will be without big man Chris Andersen after he fractured a bone in his lower back Friday. He is expected to miss up to two weeks.
While Brown is happy for Karl, he wasn’t pleased with his team’s latest effort Saturday against Philadelphia.
The Bobcats (7-13) trailed by 16 heading into the second quarter and lost 109-91, their fifth consecutive road defeat.
“You can’t win in this league if you don’t have 15 guys playing hard,” Brown said. “We don’t play together, don’t move the ball and don’t defend.”
Charlotte has been outscored by a total of 33 points in the opening period of its last three losses.
“No disrespect and I love my teammates, but I think everybody was more focused on doing their job last year,” forward Gerald Wallace said. “We’ve got to find a way to get some of that intensity back.”
Wallace, second on the team with 16.5 points per game, was held to eight against the 76ers. He has averaged 24.5 points in his last four home meetings with Denver, though, and scored 40 during a 119-116 win over the Nuggets on Jan. 14, 2008.
Charlotte has lost four of the last five meetings.
Denver last won eight in a row from Jan. 11-Jan. 27.
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