By Paul Levine Oct 30, 2009, 7:44 GMT
Los Angeles - Carmelo Anthony caught fire when it mattered the most.
Anthony erupted for 19 of his 41 points in the final quarter, carrying the undefeated Denver Nuggets to a dramatic 97-94 road victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night in a battle of Western Conference powerhouses.
'It was a gutsy win for us,' said Anthony, who hit 11-of-21 field goals and 18-of-19 free throws in 41 minutes for the Nuggets (2-0) who beat Utah 114-105 in their opener on Wednesday night. 'At the end of the game we got all the loose balls and rebounds when we needed them and we won the game.
Added Anthony: 'I felt like we came out here and stole the win.'
Portland coach Nate McMillan tipped his hat to Anthony saying, 'I thought Martell (Webster) did a pretty decent job of trying to make Carmelo work and this guy showed tonight what he's all about. They basically gave him the ball and rode him.'
Denver trailed through most of the second half, but was clinging to a 95-94 lead after Webster split a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left.
Chauncey Billups, who finished with 22 points, had a chance to give the Nuggets a three-point lead, but his jumper rattled out with 12 ticks to go. The Trail Blazers grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. When play resumed Brandon Roy took the inbound pass, drove the right side, but bottled up, managed to dump a pass inside to centre Greg Oden, who was fouled.
With a chance to retake the lead, Oden missed both free throws with 4.6 seconds left. Anthony grabbed the rebound, and made both his tosses from the stripe after being fouled, before Roy misfired a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Oden, who finished with six points and nine boards, was hard on himself.
'It was tough. I definitely stepped up there with confidence, thinking I was going to hit it and it didn't go that way,' he said of the two blown free throws.
'I put this loss on me, I need to step up and make those. Being a part of this team, all of us need to step up and I didn't do it tonight with those free throws.'
Roy had a team-high 30 points for Portland (1-1), while Spaniard Rudy Fernandez came off the bench with 21, including 16 in the final frame.
'We felt we had control but it was one of those games where we were playing their pace and we just couldn't seem to separate,' Roy said.
'They made the plays down the stretch that they needed to to get the win.'
Elsewhere: Chicago Bulls 92, San Antonio Spurs 85 Questionable to start the Bulls opener due to a bothersome right ankle, reigning Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose left little doubt he was healthy.
Rose had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Bulls used a balanced scoring attack to hustle past the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
'The ankle is feeling fine,' said Rose, the speedy guard, making his first appearance since injuring a tendon in his right ankle on Oct. 2. 'It takes time before the game to get warmed up. But during the game it felt fine. I wish we could play again right now.'
'It's amazing what Derrick Rose is doing,' said Bulls centre Joakim Noah, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 'He missed all preseason, but looks great.'
Luol Deng led the Bulls with 17 points and nine rebounds. Kirk Hinrich scored 14 off the bench, and Tyrus Thomas added all 13 of his points in the second half.
Tim Duncan topped the Spurs (1-1) with game-highs of 28 points and 16 rebounds, but the perennial All-Star forward received little help from his teammates.
Argentine ace Manu Ginobili had 12 points, newcomer Richard Jefferson added nine, while Frenchman Tony Parker finished with seven. The trio connected on just 10-of-31 field goals, and went a combined 0-for-10 in the second half.
'They had a better effort from more guys that we did,' Ginobili said. 'We had one guy (Duncan) play well and the rest of us not so good. We couldn't help him out and in the NBA one guy cannot beat another team.'
Chicago took a 47-46 lead on Hinrich's three-pointer to end the first half. Thomas found the mark with 11 points in the third quarter, and Hinrich's basket made it 72-58 at the 2:17 mark.
The Bulls carried a 74-64 lead entering the final 12 minutes and never allowed their opponents to challenge.
Thomas opened with a free throw and jumper. After Duncan's free throw, Rose nailed a jumper and two free throws around a tip-in by San Antonio's Matt Bonner as the lead grew to 81-67 with just under seven minutes left, en route to ending a four game slide against the Spurs
'We're happy to get this victory,' Rose said. 'We hope we can build off this win.'
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