RealGM

The Denver Nuggets couldn’t stop the Indiana Pacers in their last matchup. Now, they’ll try to take care of business at home prior to their longest road trip of the season.

Looking to avenge their worst loss of 2010-11, the Nuggets will try for a third straight home victory over the Pacers when the teams meet Sunday night.

Denver (24-18) struggled mightily in its 144-113 loss at Indiana on Nov. 9, especially in the second half. The Nuggets allowed 54 points in the third quarter - when the Pacers made 20 consecutive shots - and 85 points in the second half.

The 54 points were the fourth-most for a quarter in NBA history, and the 85 in a half were the most allowed by Denver since Jan. 10, 1991, when the Nuggets yielded 94 in the second half of a 156-133 loss to Houston.

Indiana’s 144 points were its most since March 7, 1991, when the Pacers beat the Nuggets 145-125.

“I’ve never seen a team make every shot,” Denver coach George Karl told the team’s official website Saturday. “If you give them those 25 shots with nobody on them, they’re not going make every shot. They were kind of in a stage where they had to start playing well and they did. It was tough.”

Denver, which has yet to lose back-to-back games at home, dropped to 19-5 at the Pepsi Center with a 107-97 loss Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, who shot 53.4 percent from the floor - the highest mark by a Nuggets opponent at home.

G A.J. Price, who has moved ahead of veteran T.J. Ford in the rotation, had seven points on 3-of-6 shooting and no assists in 10 minutes off the bench.

C Roy Hibbert returned to the lineup after missing the previous game with an upper respiratory infection. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

F Josh McRoberts went from starting against Golden State last Wednesday to being on the inactive list. McRoberts was caught up in a numbers game because C Roy Hibbert was back in the lineup and coach Jim O'Brien played veteran James Posey 20 minutes off the bench.

G Ty Lawson was called by Nuggets coach George Karl the key to Friday's game against the Lakers due to his speed. The Nuggets lost 107-97 because they were outrebounded 47-27. But there were few problems with Lawson, who shot 6-of-9 for 15 points and handed out four assists in 29 minutes.

F Carmelo Anthony shot 10-of-24 Friday against the Lakers, marking the fifth straight game he has shot under 50 percent. Anthony, who finished with 23 points, also didn't get to the free-throw line much, shooting 3-of-3. Anthony came in averaging 8.1 free-throw attempts per game. Anthony was obviously frustrated, and picked up a technical with 3:37 left in the game.

C Nene had an uncharacteristically bad shooting night Friday against the Lakers. Nene shot just 3-of-7 for nine points, breaking a streak of seven straight games in which he had shot 60 percent or better. It was the first game he had shot less than 50 percent since also going 3-of-7 Dec. 3 against the Clippers. Nene still leads the NBA in field-goal percentage at 64.0 percent.

Jim O’Brien has 30 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional level. Most recently, he served as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2004-2005 season. The Philadelphia native guided the 76ers to the playoffs with a 43-39 record, a 10 win improvement from the previous season.

NBA coaching legend George Karl was introduced as the 19th head coach in Nuggets history on Jan. 27, 2005 and has since overseen one of the most successful eras in team history.

In just 5½ seasons, Karl’s 278 wins are already the second-most by a coach in Denver’s NBA history, while his .618 winning percentage is unmatched. His run of six-straight postseason appearances is the second-longest in Nuggets history to Doug Moe’s nine-consecutive (1982-90). Denver joins Dallas and San Antonio as the only teams in the NBA to have made seven-straight playoff appearances.

NBA.com has a reporter in every arena, scouring the locker rooms and hitting press row for all the latest news, notes and anecdotes leading up to tipoff. Ten Before Tip is your source for lineup scratches, injury updates and all last-minute info that could affect the outcome of the game. Every night, before every game, NBA.com’s writers will be filing short TBT blog posts directly from the arena, covering the latest storylines to keep you fully informed.

colts2004 wrote:Is it wrong to hope we get killed? Anything to get JOB fired???

Gremz wrote::angry: Who broke Hibbert?

Kuq_e_Zi91 wrote:Guys, I wouldn't get my hopes up about O'Brien getting fired this season. As long we are "in the playoff hunt" Bird won't fire him. Unfortunately for us, the bottom of the East is so bad we can go on losing streaks and still be within reach of the playoffs.

colts2004 wrote:

Kuq_e_Zi91 wrote:Guys, I wouldn't get my hopes up about O'Brien getting fired this season. As long we are "in the playoff hunt" Bird won't fire him. Unfortunately for us, the bottom of the East is so bad we can go on losing streaks and still be within reach of the playoffs.

Playoffs? Its not even mid season! And Larry doesnt have final say...

chube wrote:Nice score by Paul! You know what that means, time to sub him out for James Posey.

DougInOz wrote:

chube wrote:Nice score by Paul! You know what that means, time to sub him out for James Posey.

Oh how I wish you were joking...