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60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 8, 2005 Portland Trail Blazer guard Richie Frahm, front, gets tangled up with Denver Nugget forward Eduardo Najera as they fight for control of a rebound in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 111-98 victory in Denver on Monday. AP Blazers’ slide continues Nuggets, who are headed in the other direction, win in a laugher over short-handed Portland By JOHN MARSHAL The Associated Press DENVER — Kenyon Martin broke into a smile after he intercepted a pass near halfcourt, then nearly missed the breakaway dunk because he was laughing so hard. Yes, it’s been that easy for the Denver Nuggets, particularly on this night. Carmelo Anthony had 23 points before sitting out the fourth quarter and the Nuggets won their seventh straight game Monday night, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98 for their longest winning streak in 16 years. It was Portland’s fifth straight loss. Advertisement "There’s been a lot of firsts this season and we just want to keep it going," said Martin, who returned after missing two games with knee tendinitis. "Winning is contagious. When you win one, then two and you learn how to do it. It’s been great." Martin was forced into action because center Marcus Camby — last week’s NBA player of the week — sat out with a strained hamstring and forward Nene missed his ninth straight game with a sprained knee. Not that it’s mattered. Short-handed or full strength, the Nuggets are on a roll and are charging toward the final playoff spot in the Western Conference — or higher. Denver is 14-4 under coach George Karl, has won eight straight home games and has made up 6½ games on the Los Angeles Lakers in a little over a month to tie for eighth in the West. Wesley Person scored 18 points in 22 minutes and Greg Buckner added 16 on just five shots for the Nuggets, on their longest winning streak since winning seven straight in 1989. "This team is a very capable basketball team that’s just starting to feel good about themselves," Karl said. "And in a general way we’re getting better almost every game that we play." While the Nuggets have responded to a coaching change, firing Maurice Cheeks hasn’t made a bit of difference for Portland. The Blazers have lost 10 of 12, the last three by an average of 11.6 points under interim coach Kevin Pritchard. It didn’t help that leading scorer Zach Randolph missed his third straight game with a sore right knee and Nick Van Exel didn’t make the trip after complaining about the team’s direction and saying he needed to rest his sore knee. Damon Stoudamire led Portland with 24 points and Darius Miles added 16, but at times it seemed as if the inexperienced Blazers were intentionally throwing the ball away. Flinging wild passes and sending lobs into crowds of two or three Nuggets, Portland had turnovers on three straight possessions twice in the first 15 minutes and had 26 overall — 16 on steals by the Nuggets. "We turned the ball over way too much to be able to compete and play with a team like that," said Portland’s Shareef Abdur-Raheem, who had 15 points. "The young guys try. We just have to keep working with them and be positive." The young guys were solid in the first half when they did hold onto the ball, usually putting it in the basket. Portland shot 11-of-19 in the first quarter and cooled only slightly in the second, shooting 48 percent to stay within six at 56-50 despite giving the ball away so many times. But as has happened so many times this season, it didn’t last. The Blazers continued to throw the ball away in the second half, didn’t shoot quite as well and allowed the Nuggets to hit 14-of-22 shots in the third quarter to stretch the lead to as much as 19. Portland’s problems got worse midway through the third, when starting center Joe Przybila was ejected after receiving his second technical foul for pushing Francisco Elson. "It’s disappointing. Every game I’m mad we lose, but it’s a mad that is like a hole inside," Miles said. "I don’t want to lose every game, I want to win. But I definitely want our guys to play and that is the route we are going." The inability to stop Anthony didn’t help any. The Blazers hounded Denver’s leading scorer the last team these teams met on Feb. 2, holding him to 3-of-14 shooting and keeping him under double figures for just the sixth time in his career. Athony had no problems this time, reaching his total from the previous meeting (seven) in the first quarter, playing superb defense and finishing 9-for-18 before cheering on his teammates from the bench in the fourth quarter. "Carmelo has done a great job of trying to figure out how I want him to play," Karl said. "Tonight he had a game he very easily could have gotten 30 or 35." Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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