Denver (4-0) at New Jersey (0-4)

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  • Game info: 7:30 pm EST Wed Nov 4, 2009
  • TV: ALT2, YES

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO, STATS Writer Nov 4, 2:14 am EST

Preview | Box Score | Recap

The Denver Nuggets believe the momentum from their run to the Western Conference finals last spring has carried over into their best start in 24 years. The New Jersey Nets, meanwhile, are trying to avoid their worst start since 1996.

The Nuggets look to remain undefeated Wednesday night when they visit the winless Nets.

Denver (4-0) made a run in the highly-competitive West before falling in six games in the conference finals to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nuggets have carried that momentum into this season, and are off to their best start since going 6-0 to start 1985-86. They continued to impress surge Tuesday, winning 111-93 at Indiana.

“We should feel good, we shouldn’t feel no other way,” Denver star Carmelo Anthony(notes) said after scoring 25 points against the Pacers. “It seems like we’re picking up where we left off from last year.”

The Nets (0-4) missed out on the playoffs for a second consecutive season last April, finishing 34-48. They haven’t shown any improvement in 2009-10, and are in danger of matching their 0-5 start from 1996-97 - a franchise worst since joining the NBA in 1976.

New Jersey pulled within one loss of that dubious mark with Monday’s 79-68 defeat at Charlotte. The Nets shot a season-low 37.3 percent against the Bobcats, who were even worse at 32.4.

“It was embarrassing,” guard Rafer Alston(notes) said. “Offensively, we have to do it together.”

While the Nets are at the bottom of the East, the Nuggets are flourishing with one of the most potent offenses in the league, averaging 113.8 points after finishing sixth in 2008-09 with 104.3.

Anthony has led Denver’s season-opening surge. The forward leads the NBA with an average of 34.5 points, while shooting 50 percent from the field. The two-time All-Star averaged a team-high 22.8 points last season, and increased that to 27.2 in 16 playoff games.

Chauncey Billups(notes), who put up 24 points against the Pacers, is again playing a key supporting role. The guard is second on the Nuggets with 23.3 points per game after averaging 20.6 in the playoffs.

“We have a real good aura, a real good feel about what we can be as a team this year,” Billups said.

The Nuggets split two meetings with the Nets last season, as each team won at home. Denver has dropped 16 of its last 20 visits to New Jersey.

If the Nets are going to snap their season-opening slide, they’ll need to show some offensive improvement. They’re averaging 87.5 points while allowing 98.0 through four games. New Jersey scored 98.1 points per game in 2008-09.

Chris Douglas-Roberts(notes) has been one of the Nets’ few bright spots. The swingman, who was drafted in the second round out of Memphis last year, has totaled 45 points over the last two games after scoring 12 during the previous two.

He’s started all four contests this season, after filling a limited role off the bench and averaging 4.9 points as a rookie.

Updated Nov 4, 2:14 am EST
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Team Comparison

Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Denver 10-4 1st Northwest / 3rd West 107.4 100.3 Road 4-4 Won 2 6-4
New Jersey 0-14 5th Atlantic / 15th East 85.1 95.5 Home 0-6 Lost 14 0-10

Notes

April 22 G Chauncey Billups' previous playoff high for threes was seven at Orlando in 2003, and his regular season high was also seven, which he accomplished three times, the last on Jan. 11, 2004, against Dallas. ... C Nene briefly left the game after getting poked in his left eye by Devin Brown late in the third quarter. ... Grammy-award winning rapper Lil Wayne, a native of New Orleans, had a front-row seat.

Apr 20, 1:53 am EDT

Nets coach Lawrence Frank walked onto the floor in disgust Wednesday after calling timeout midway through the fourth quarter with the Knicks flirting with a 30-point bulge. Frank hopes he is still part of the Nets plans, with speculation that New Jersey's 34-48 record could cost him his job.

Apr 15, 10:47 pm EDT
NBA

27 Comments

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  1. The Drinker
    27. Posted by The Drinker Thu Nov 5 10:48pm EST

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    Denver's First Loss Comes December 16th.(circle your calenders Nuggets fans).

    "CHEERS"
  2. GoodOleBoyCo
    26. Posted by GoodOleBoyCo Thu Nov 5 9:33pm EST

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    OK NUGSS FANS....SEASON IS OVER. The Lakers official fan representative, Jose, has stated that that SA and LA ar locks for the WC championship. Let's end the season now and let SA and LA fans talk smack for 4 months, then resume play for conference finals and NBA title series. There is always next year Nugget fans. Thanks Jose.... BTW can you please tell me who will win the Superbowl? I've got Vegas on my speed dial waiting for your prediction.
  3. OH yeaH
    25. Posted by OH yeaH Thu Nov 5 4:26pm EST

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    LAKERS good defensive teams???? they Almost lost against THE OKC and Rockets who has no go to guy
  4. Jose
    24. Posted by Jose Thu Nov 5 11:59am EST

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    and remember last time lakers played the nuggets:

    Lakers 119 Nuggets 92 IN DENVER and we had no artest.
  5. Jose
    23. Posted by Jose Thu Nov 5 11:51am EST

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    denver fans will be disappointed again this season. the reason why the nuggets are 5-0 is cus they haven't played any good defensive teams. right now they're just outscoring opponents. spurs and lakers are still better. the lakers are better offensively and defensively and the spurs are better defensively but can keep up with them offensively. sorry carmelo, maybe next season.
  6. <i>scotttracy72</i>
    22. Posted by scotttracy72 Thu Nov 5 11:14am EST

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    JR Swish makes his return next week in Chicago.
  7. HELLO
    21. Posted by HELLO Thu Nov 5 10:41am EST

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    The Nets are clearing cap space. If everything goes perfect for them. They will be in Brooklyn next year with Lebron and Wade and maybe even Bosh on the same team. They would then go from worst to a title.
    10 wins to 70 wins.

    Denver is my pic in the west to go all the way. Melo is becoming a real man now. A leader. With Billips and Melo being strong leaders and good men they will go a long way. Actually I like them for the title right now.
  8. <i>nettech_00</i>
    20. Posted by nettech_00 Thu Nov 5 6:56am EST

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    Does anyone know when JR Smith is coming back?
  9. <i>bunshintechnique</i>
    19. Posted by bunshintechnique Thu Nov 5 6:18am EST

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    David M,

    Look at your favorite Lakers past games. They were always in the brink of losing but already lost to the Mavs. Sub-par Teams like Thunders and Rockets almost beat them going into OT.
  10. lakeshow
    18. Posted by lakeshow Thu Nov 5 4:14am EST

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    I wouldn't be surprised if the Nets won no more than 10 games this year. Besides Devin Harris, there is just not enough talent on this team.
  11. David M
    17. Posted by David M Thu Nov 5 3:50am EST

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    DC your wrong…true test are gonna be when they travel to L.A. and Orlando!!!! nuggets are gonna have it to easy against the smelltics lol
  12. Don
    16. Posted by Don Thu Nov 5 1:41am EST

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    Happy to see that Melo's season last year wasn't a fluke. Finally keeping a draft pick is working great for the Nuggets as well with Ty Lawson. The Nuggets had been missing depth for awhile which made them just an afterthought but now with Lawson, Andersen, JR Smith (starter or bench), Graham, and Afflalo they are a legitimate contender.
  13. SINISTER6000DJM
    15. Posted by SINISTER6000DJM Thu Nov 5 1:37am EST

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    2009-10 5-0, '85-'86 6-0, '76-'77 8-0. George Karl gets win #938 to tie Red Auerbach.
  14. Reppin 4rm Big D to Jrzy
    14. Posted by Reppin 4rm Big D to Jrzy Thu Nov 5 12:57am EST

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    i think we would be lettin frank off the hook if we fired him before this season is over
  15. SteveKing77
    13. Posted by SteveKing77 Thu Nov 5 12:28am EST

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    Only Celtics and Nuggets are undefeated. Who would have guessed that. All "experts" say it will be a 5 team race this year and to quote Bill Simons who just wrote a 750 page book on basketball other than the the five (LA, Cleveland, SA, Boston, and Orlando) there is not a chance at a suprise team to win it. Well everyone lets add a 6th name to the mix. GO Nuggets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  16. DC
    12. Posted by DC Thu Nov 5 12:24am EST

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    The Nuggets is lookin' pretty good right now.

    Their true test is when they run into L.A. or Boston.
  17. <i>sjdaniel</i>
    11. Posted by sjdaniel Thu Nov 5 12:00am EST

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    How about Ty Lawson eh? This team is on a mission, and doing it without JR Smith no less. Two more sets of back to backs (thanks NBA) and they get JR back after the next two. After Melo carrying the Nugs the first 3 games, the rest of the bunch has stepped up to make up the difference to put the games away by the 4th. Keep it rolling Nuggets!
  18. they call me Edward a.k.a Wesley
    10. Posted by they call me Edward a.k.a Wesley Wed Nov 4 11:53pm EST

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    Kmart is a beast i remember watching him in college.
  19. OH yeaH
    9. Posted by OH yeaH Wed Nov 4 11:53pm EST

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    They will Be very very sCAry when JR SMITH Comes BACk
  20. <i>the_atarisrm</i>
    8. Posted by the_atarisrm Wed Nov 4 11:52pm EST

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    The reserve backcourt, when JR makes it back, of Lawson and Afflalo will be the fastest in the league. These guys are going to be able to run teams into submission in 2nd and 3rd quarters. Throw a small team out there consisting of fast guards and some hustle forwards and that's a deadly bench.
  21. Donald M
    7. Posted by Donald M Wed Nov 4 11:42pm EST

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    George Karl kicks tail
  22. Sean M
    6. Posted by Sean M Wed Nov 4 11:41pm EST

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    Love it! Nuggets picked to finish 6th in west. Broncos and Avs are suppose to finish dead last. All three teams are in first place and thier combined losses are 4 after 27 games. Chargers have lost 3 games out of 7 all on thier own.

    Oops, and the Rockies, who were suppose to finish 4th, went to the playoffs this year.

    Hey there, east coast writers, how do you like our little sports town now???
  23. <i>wjrudy</i>
    5. Posted by wjrudy Wed Nov 4 10:49pm EST

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    Looking good... not necessarily because of the record (as the Nuggs have played a few struggling teams) - but because they are winning the games they are supposed to be winning, and doing it handily. Good teams usually split with other good teams, but the teams that finally rise to the top are the ones who in addition always/almost always take care of business against the poorer, struggling or hurting teams. The really good teams don't let up, and don't let opportunities slip away. They get the job done when they're supposed to. Looking for the Nuggets to continue this attitude throughout the year.
  24. Alp
    4. Posted by Alp Wed Nov 4 10:43pm EST

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    whoo all we need is a lakers loss and we're good!
  25. R.R.
    3. Posted by R.R. Wed Nov 4 10:39pm EST

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    Yeahhh Nuggz 5-0, don't sleep on meloooo
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