NUGGETS
Those around the NBA continue to tout Denver center Chris Andersen, who has overcome a drug suspension to have a top-notch season, for NBA Comeback Player of the Year.
There's just one problem. The NBA has no such award.
But it once did. It was done away with before the 1986-87 season and replaced with the Most Improved Player Award because too many players coming back from drug problems were being handed trophies. Of the six who won the award during its 1981-86 run, Bernard King (1981), Micheal Ray Richardson (1985) and Marques Johnson (1986) had battled substance abuse.
However, if a special Comeback Player of the Year were handed out this season, it seems Andersen would do very well in the voting.
"He's been so awesome," said Denver guard Chauncey Billups. "I'm so happy for him. He has to be the player in the league that gets the Comeback Player of the Year. ... He's been phenomenal all reason in his role."
Andersen, then with the Hornets, was suspended in January 2006 for violating the NBA's drug policy. He was reinstated March 2008, but played sparingly in five late-season games with the Hornets.
But Andersen has been a different player since signing a one-year minimum contract last summer with the Nuggets.
Andersen during the regular season averaged 6.4 points and 6.2 rebounds and was second in the NBA in blocked shots with a 2.46 average despite logging a modest 20.5 minutes a night. During the first-round of the playoffs, Andersen showed his old teammates what they were missing when he averaged 7.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.80 blocks as the Nuggets walloped New Orleans in five games.
"For (Andersen) to be kicked out of the league for a couple of seasons and get himself back together and get his life back together and be a big-time contributor on a team like (the Nuggets), that says a lot about his character," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "I was very proud that he got himself back into the league. He is truly one of my favorite people. He has an infectious personality. I thought he played extremely well in all five games (of the series)."
Andersen picked up right where he left off in Sunday's 109-95 win over Dallas in Game 1 of a West semifinal. He totaled 11 points, six rebounds and six blocks.
So how does Andersen feel about all this talk about his surprising play, and how he should be Comeback Player of the Year?
"I knew I was going to play like this," he said.
NUGGETS 109, MAVERICKS 95: The Nuggets bench-pressed the Mavericks in Game 1 of their West semifinal.
"We're going to have to raise our level of aggression," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said after his team was manhandled Sunday at the Pepsi Center.
Still, Carlisle was upset that Dallas shot a meager 13 free throws to 36 for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets, though, are an aggressive team while the Mavericks are known for their finesse.
Burly Denver center Nene scored 18 of his team-high 24 points in the first half. Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony, after being saddled by foul trouble, had 19 of his 23 in the second half.
"It was huge," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "We thought Nene had an opportunity to have a big game, but we never thought we'd get 18 out of him. But, with Melo in foul trouble and kind of searching for an offensive confidence, we got it from Nene."
The hot-shooting Mavericks did take a 24-16 lead after the first quarter. But the Nuggets moved out to a 51-47 halftime lead and put the game away with a 19-4 spurt in the fourth quarter that extended an 82-80 lead to 101-84.
Dallas star forward Dirk Nowitzki scored a game-high 28 points. But despite bodies being draped all over him, Carlisle was upset Nowitzki shot just five free throws, one being a technical.
Until the fourth quarter, when both benches were cleared, Nuggets reserves had outscored Dallas' bench 30-12. Reserve Denver center Chris Andersen finished with 11 points and six blocks.
"We've got the best bench in the league," said Denver guard Chauncey Billups.
NOTES, QUOTES
—Nuggets coach George Karl wasn't worried when his star forward, Carmelo Anthony, played just 12 minutes in the first half Sunday due to foul trouble.
"What I felt about Melo was his maturity," Karl said after his team beat Dallas 109-95 in Game 1 of a West semifinal. "His foul trouble didn't bother him. It didn't freak him out. It didn't take him to a dark side that we had to worry about. ... He came out in the second half and was a leader for us."
Anthony, who picked up his third foul with 7:03 left in the first half and went to the bench, shot just 0-of-1 in the first half for four points. But he scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, shooting 5-of-5 for 14 points in the fourth quarter.
"The first half I kind of thought some calls could have went either way, but that's the way they were calling it," Anthony said. "But there really wasn't anything I could do. Was I kind of frustrated about that? Yeah. But I knew I had a whole second half to go out there and get back going."
Anthony picked up his fourth foul with 2:58 left in the third quarter. But he returned with 10:25 left in the game.
Seems Anthony's fourth-quarter goal was modest.
"Trying to get no fouls, man," said Anthony, who stayed clean until getting his fifth with 4:38 left in the game.
—Nuggets coach George Karl has plenty of confidence in his center. But he didn't expect to see what Nene did Sunday.
With Nuggets stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups managing to score a combined total of just seven points in the first half in Game 1 of a West semifinal against Dallas, the Nuggets needed offense. It came from Nene, who scored 18 of his playoff career-high 24 points in the first half of the 109-95 win.
"It was huge," Karl said. "We thought Nene had an opportunity to have a big game, but we never thought we'd get 18 out of him. But, with Melo in foul trouble and kind of searching for an offensive confidence, we got it from Nene."
Nene's previous playoff career high had been 18 points. He equaled that in the first half alone.
"It's a great feeling," Nene said. "We did it good. We took care of business."
In the second half, with Anthony finding his groove en route to 23 points, Nene turned to passing. He handed out four of his five assists.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Our defense was great. I thought our offense was good, but our defense was real good." — Nuggets coach George Karl, on his team's play in Sunday's 109-95 win over Dallas in Game 1 of a West semifinal.
ROSTER REPORT
ROTATION: Starters — Point guard Chauncey Billups, Shooting guard Dahntay Jones, Small forward Carmelo Anthony, Power forward Kenyon Martin, Center Nene. Bench - Guard J.R. Smith, Guard Anthony Carter, Center Chris Andersen, Forward Linas Kleiza.
PLAYER NOTES:
—G J.R. Smith is often needed to put up big scoring numbers. Smith did score 15 points in Sunday's win over Dallas, but he also looked to do other things. Smith handed out six assists and had three steals. If Smith continues to play an all-around game, the Nuggets will be very difficult to beat in their West semifinal series against the Mavericks.
—G Chauncey Billups got off to a great start in Denver's first-round series against New Orleans when he averaged 33.5 points in the first two games. It was hardly the same start for Billups in the West semifinal against Dallas. In Sunday's Game 1, Billups managed just six points on 2-of-8 shooting. But Billups didn't care in the slightest since the Nuggets won 109-95.
—F Kenyon Martin wasted no time in Game 1 of a West semifinal against Dallas showing this will be a physical series. Midway through the first quarter Sunday, Martin gave Dirk Nowitzki a hard shove to the floor and got a technical. Nowitzki insisted the play didn't bother him. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle believed it would have been a flagrant foul had the whistle not blown before Martin's shove.
—F Linas Kleiza played a limited role for the second straight postseason game. After not playing at all in the fifth and final game of a first-round series against New Orleans, Kleiza played a scoreless seven minutes Sunday in Game 1 of a West semifinal against Dallas. Kleiza knew before the playoffs started that his team might be cut. Nuggets coach George Karl has sought at times to go with an eight-man, rather than a nine-man rotation.