If the New Jersey Nets could play in Newark every night, they would be right in the middle of the playoff hunt. Having a little extra motivation doesn't hurt either and they were provided with exactly that Monday night when Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets came to town. The Nets took out Anthony and the Nuggets 115-99 for their third straight win at the Prudential Center.
Brook Lopez continued to put up big numbers for New Jersey, scoring 27 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The Nets center claimed going against Anthony wasn't what brought out the best out of the team.
"We were more so disappointed with ourselves on the road these past couple of games," Lopez said.
"We wanted to come home and continue to play the way we have been playing here."
Travis Outlaw scored 18 points in the first half on his way to 21 for the night and Anthony Morrow led an impressive bench effort with 18.
The Nets bench outscored the Nuggets reserves 50-17.
Anthony was clearly playing with some extra motivation. The All Star came out on fire, putting up 23 points for the league's most explosive offense. Anthony finished with 37 points, the most scored against the Nets this season in regulation. Another near-Net Chauncey Billups added 19 points while Nene scored 16 but was held to just three rebounds.
New Jersey opened up an 18 point lead in the second quarter and by 13 at halftime. Denver came roaring back in the second half, cutting the Nets lead to four in the final quarter before a 10-2 run helped put the Nuggets away.
The Nets have now won 16 of 20 games from the Nuggets in New Jersey.
Brook Lopez & Co. return to action Wednesday night when they close out their brief two-game homestand against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Carmelo Anthony will finally show New Jersey Nets fans what he can do at the Prudential Center, but he will do it while trying to beat their team. Anthony's Denver Nuggets travel to Newark on Monday night to take on a Nets team that has won four of five at home.
Following their success at home, the Nets went on the road and lost two straight last week, including a 91-81 setback to the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night. Brook Lopez led the way for New Jersey in a losing effort with 26 points while Anthony Morrow contributed 16 off the bench.
The Nuggets are wrapping up a six game road trip that they started off with three four straight victories before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers 110-99 Sunday night.
Now we get to find out just how Nets fans will react to the nearly-Net (three times) Anthony. Boo? Cheer? Ignore?
With more than half the Nets roster involved in the failed trade talks with the Nuggets, it will be interesting to see how all parties involved respond Monday night at The Rock.
Devin Harris is expected to play despite a calf injury while his backup, Jordan Farmar, will miss his third straight game due to a back issue. The lack of depth at point guard forced the Nets to sign Orien Greene from the Utah Flash of the D-League.
Denver won the only other matchup of these two teams this season when Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets with 28 points -- including free throws down the stretch -- on the way to a 107-103 victory. History has not been kind to the Nuggets when they play in the Garden State as the Nets have taken 15 of the last 19 games against Denver in New Jersey.
