Box score

In this most frustrating of seasons, even a win can put Nuggets coach George Karl in a foul mood.

Karl found some comfort in a 107-99 win Tuesday night over the lowly Portland Trail Blazers at the Pepsi Center.

But it's not as if he was calling hotel ballrooms to set up a victory party.

The Nuggets had an impressive first half, outscoring the Trail Blazers 55-37 and holding them to 28.8 percent shooting.

As for the second half, listen to Karl.

"Our starts in the third quarter . . . we're awful," Karl said after the Nuggets gave up 62 points and allowed Portland to shoot 59.5 percent in the second half. "That's six out of the last eight games. I wouldn't even put it in a high school clinic.

"We come out loose. We come out nonfocused, nonrunning. I'm actually thinking about benching them. There were times I wanted to take all five guys out of the lineup, off the court, and put five more guys on the court. That's how angry I was."

At least Nuggets guard Allen Iverson didn't have problems on offense during the second half. He scored 20 of his game-high 31 points, although he had only two of his 10 assists and one of his five steals after intermission.

Forward Carmelo Anthony shot better during the second half, making 5-of-10 shots and scoring 13 points. He finished 10-of-22 for 29 points.

As for the second-half defense, that's another story.

"He gave us a challenge that we couldn't do it again in the second half," Iverson said of Karl pushing the team to duplicate allowing a season-low points for a first half. "If we would have bet, he would have won."

If Karl had gotten odds, he would have had a victory of lotterylike proportions.

Nevertheless, it was a win for the Nuggets (31-31), who have kicked away games all season to lesser teams.

The Trail Blazers (26-37) cut the deficit to seven at the end of the third quarter and to six midway through the fourth but could get no closer.

Portland got 26 points from forward Zach Randolph.

Rookie center LaMarcus Aldridge played the best game of his career, totaling 24 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots, although counterpart Marcus Camby tied a season high with seven rejections.

"We gave ourselves a shot, but we really dug ourselves too big of a hole," Portland guard Jarrett Jack said.

The Nuggets were just happy to escape.

"We could have stepped up our defense a little more," Anthony said. "But we won the game. It was an ugly win. But we won the game and we carry this confidence over to Thursday against the Lakers."

If the Nuggets can win Thursday, they will move percentage points ahead of the Lakers (33-31) into the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

But playoffs were the last thing on Karl's mind after saying Tuesday was "24 great minutes, 24 minutes of frustration."

"Ask me April 1," he said "Hopefully, we'll be in a nice place. I'm not sure we're in a nice place yet."

Karl hopes guard J.R. Smith can help get the Nuggets to that place. With the exception of a meaningless 2-minute stint March 6, Smith saw his first action since undergoing left knee surgery Feb. 21, making 1-of-6 shots for three points in 15 minutes.

"I felt I was fading on a lot of shots, but overall, I felt pretty good," Smith said. "I could backpedal, I could cut, I could do a lot more things than I could before. . . . I'm so determined to come back and be the player they want me to be. It's getting to the point that I'm going crazy."

Some might suggest the Nuggets are driving Karl crazy.

ETC.: Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza, playing on a sprained left ankle, managed four points after scoring a career-high 24 Sunday at Sacramento. Camby said he told Kleiza after that game, "Just don't be a one-game wonder." . . . Iverson said he has "respect" for the league for rescinding a technical foul he was assessed Sunday. He will donate the $2,500 returned from the technical to charity. . . . Iverson said his teammates joked he "must be getting old" after he missed consecutive first-half layups. . . . The Nuggets' April 4 home game against Sacramento has been moved to 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

Scoring race

Player, team Tue. G Pts. Avg.

Anthony, Den. 29 46 1,373 29.8

Bryant, LAL DNP 59 1,720 29.2

Wade, Miami DNP 46 1,324 28.8

Arenas, Wash. DNP 62 1,782 28.7

Iverson, Den. 31 46 1,284 27.9

tomassonc@RockyMountainNews.com

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