Defensive Player

DENVER (NBA.com exclusive) -- The Nuggets created a assignment of art in the aboriginal bisected Thursday. The additional half, on the added hand, wasn't aces abundant to band to the refrigerator door. But Carmelo Anthony's 26 credibility and career-high 18 rebounds helped the Nuggets allotment calm a 93-80 win over the Hornets. And at this time of the year, the final account is all that counts, no amount if the achievement would win an Oscar or a Razzie. "The aboriginal bisected was absolute basketball," acting drillmaster Adrian Dantley said. The additional half? Denver didn't attending like the aggregation sitting in additional in the Western Conference. Absent shots, absent chargeless throws and turnovers gave New Orleans a adventitious to accomplish it a game. "We got a little lull, we absent a lot of shots, absent chargeless throws," Dantley said. Not abounding would accusation the Nuggets for accepting distracted. In the accomplished two weeks they've absent Kenyon Martin, their best arresting amateur and top rebounder, and accept had to comedy after their arch coach. George Karl absent his fifth bold in the aftermost six while he's ability analysis for close and throat cancer. He was at the amphitheatre Thursday for the morning shootaround and sat in on a meeting, but he was not in the architecture for the game. It won't be the aftermost bold he misses. "George said it's activity to get a little worse and worse," said Dantley, who is 5-1 as acting drillmaster during Karl's blight treatment. Karl's absence hasn't aching the Nuggets so far. If anything, it has fabricated them afterpiece and added focused. Earlier <b>...</b>