Martin, Nuggets Hand Nets Sixth Straight Loss
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DENVER – Kenyon Martin had 22 points and 12 rebounds against his former team, and Earl Boykins hit runner with 21 seconds left to lift the Denver Nuggets to a 90-88 victory last night over the New Jersey Nets for their fourth straight win.
Richard Jefferson, who led New Jersey with 26 points, got the Nets within a point by hitting one of two free throws with 37 seconds left. But Boykins banked in a shot to make it 90-87.
Eric Williams missed on a 3-pointer at the other end, got the rebound, and was fouled with 0.1 seconds left. He made one free throw, leaving the Nets with their first six-game losing streak since April 2001.
Andre Miller had 17 points and nine assists, and Boykins finished with 12 points to help Denver (6-5) go over .500 for the first time this season.
Alonzo Mourning, New Jersey’s second-leading scorer, seemed out of sorts in his 10th game since returning from kidney transplant surgery and first in Denver in nearly five years. He shot airballs in the first and third quarters, finishing with two points on 1-of-8 shooting in 13 minutes.
Denver’s Carmelo Anthony wasn’t much better, managing just nine points on 4-of-15 shooting after averaging 25 points and shooting 50% the previous six games. Martin, who played his first four seasons in New Jersey, did his best to make up for Melo’s off-night.
Clearly excited about facing his former team, Martin ran over to slap hands with Nets coach Lawrence Frank before the tipoff and tied to charge through a double team on Denver’s first possession.
But K-Mart settled down after burning off the early nervous energy, kicking out of double teams for a pair of his six assists and hitting consecutive jumpers. Martin later snatched a rebound and kicked out quickly to Miller, who hit Anthony for an alley-oop, and pulled up on the break for a jumper to end a 14-0 run.
Martin’s former team clearly could have used him in the early going.
New Jersey missed nine straight through the first quarter, going more than six minutes without a point, and finished 8-of-21.The Nets weren’t much better defensively, allowing the Nuggets to shoot 10-of-19 by leaving them open on the perimeter and giving them free runs down the lane.
