Denver's dynamic duo send Raptors to another loss
Iverson and Anthony power 13-2 Nuggets run to end the game
Last Updated: Sunday, March 23, 2008 | 11:18 PM ET
CBC Sports
The Denver Nuggets rode their big guns Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony to a 109-100 victory over the Raptors on Sunday afternoon at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The pair, third and fourth in NBA scoring average this year, combined for 69 points to come back from 17 down in the first half and win a crucial battle for Nuggets' own playoff survival.
Denver's Allen Iverson hits the floor after colliding with Toronto's Jose Calderon on Sunday afternoon. The man known as A.I. scored 36 points to lead the Nuggets to a win.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)
At 42-28, the Nuggets are a game behind Golden State for the final post-season spot in the NBA's Western Conference.
Iverson finished with 36 points and six assists on the afternoon, with Anthony contributing 33 and seven rebounds. Former Raptor draft pick Marcus Camby had 15 rebounds for Denver.
Chris Bosh was one assist away from his first career triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine helpers. Five other Raptors were in double-figures on the day (Jamario Moon had a double-double of 15 points and 15 boards), but it wasn't enough.
Toronto drops back to .500 at 35-35 and down to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game back of Philadelphia prior to the 76ers' game on Sunday night. They've won just once in their last seven games.
"A.I. just took advantage of what the defence gave him, and I took advantage of what the Raptors gave me," Anthony told CBC Sports afterward.
Denver hot down the stretch
Denver trailed 98-96 coming back from a timeout with 2:36 to go. From there, they outscored the home side 13-2, led by Iverson's five points, including a wicked three-ball, and four points from Anthony.
Included in that run was a key drawing of a foul by Anthony on Jamario Moon, and a controversial call by the referees on Jose Calderon.
Following a turnover, Kenyon Martin raced back the other way and was hacked by the Raptor point guard, who was judged to be behind the Denver player rather than beside him. That led to two shots from the foul line and the Nuggets kept the ball.
Nuggets started slowly
Denver trailed 35-23 after the first quarter but began chipping away from there, taking four off the margin by halftime and getting it to 73-71 by the end of three.
A long three by Linas Kleiza opened the fourth, and Denver had its first lead of the game.
Once again, Toronto's inability to get to the free throw line (the club was last in the NBA coming in at just 20.2 attempts from the charity stripe per game) was a key. It wasn't until inside of the first half's final minute that Bosh finally got there, giving the Raptors one point on two tries for the game's first 24 minutes.
Overall, Toronto was 10 of 12 from the foul line, only half Denver's 20 of 24.
