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By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Dec 16 2010 1:53AM Carmelo Anthony has worn just one team's uniform since being drafted third overall in 2003. At least for the time being, the three-time All-Star forward continues to don the powder blue and white of the Denver Nuggets. With trade rumors continuing to swirl, Anthony and the Nuggets will try ignore the distractions Thursday as they go for their 11th straight victory at Pepsi Center in a matchup with the NBA-best San Antonio Spurs. Since leading Syracuse to a national championship in his one season on campus, Anthony has been the cornerstone of a Nuggets franchise that has advanced to the postseason seven straight years after missing the playoffs in the eight seasons prior to his arrival. Saying he wanted to keep his options open, Anthony declined a three-year, $65 million extension with the Nuggets in June. It has since been rumored that the Brooklyn-born free agent-to-be wants to go to either the Knicks or Nets. While Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said following Tuesday's 111-94 victory over Orlando that no trades were imminent and Anthony would know if he was getting dealt, rumors continue that Anthony will not be a Nugget when the February trade deadline passes. Anthony denied a report last week that he had told Denver he would only accept a trade to the Knicks. More speculation surfaced Tuesday after the Nets acquired two more first-round picks in a three-team swap that could be used in a package deal for the Nuggets superstar. "I've got a game here Thursday night against San Antonio and that's what I'm focused on," Anthony said Tuesday after scoring 35 points with 11 rebounds. "All that other stuff, I'm not even paying attention to right now." Anthony, whose career scoring average against San Antonio (20.2) is his lowest against any team in the Western Conference, can't afford to get caught up in the rumors given the way the Spurs are playing. San Antonio (21-3) makes its first of two visits to Denver this season after capping off a 6-0 homestand Wednesday with a 92-90 victory over Milwaukee. Manu Ginobili hit the game-winning fallaway jumper over Luc Mbah a Moute as time expired. "It was a tough shot," Ginobili told NBA.com after scoring a team-high 26 points. "He guarded me really well. ... I got lucky. I made the shot. We all celebrated." The Spurs, who will return home for three games following Thursday's matchup, are 8-1 on the road, falling 90-85 to the Los Angeles Clippers in their last game away from AT&T Center on Dec. 1. Denver has a league-best 45 home wins since the beginning of 2009-10 and is on the verge of its first 11-game winning streak at home since a 12-0 stretch March 16-April 19, 2005. However, San Antonio went 2-0 when visiting the Nuggets last season, winning by 19 points each time. The Spurs won the most recent of those meetings 104-85 on April 10 behind Tim Duncan's 18 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony was ejected in the fourth quarter for arguing with officials. Ty Lawson will likely start at point guard for the Nuggets in place of Chauncey Billups, who missed Tuesday's victory with a wrist injury. San Antonio hosts Denver next Wednesday.
Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited
Ginobili leads Spurs past Nuggets 113-112
By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted Dec 17 2010 2:35AM DENVER (AP) One night after his step-back jumper beat Milwaukee, Manu Ginobili's defense handed the San Antonio Spurs a 113-112 win over the Denver Nuggets. Ginobili sparked the Spurs to a big fourth-quarter lead and he drew the foul that negated Carmelo Anthony's winning basket in San Antonio's escape Thursday night. "I knew Carmelo was going to attack the rim," Ginobili said. "We were not going to let him take that open shot. Antonio (McDyess) made him a driver and I was in the right position. It's my job to be there and try to draw a charge. When he jumped I knew I was going to get it because I was right outside the circle. "I definitely didn't want to make any doubts for the refs. A guy that explosive, it's hard to stop and pull up. I knew I was right out of the circle and he got me right in the chest." Anthony, who led Denver with 31 points, thought he had the game-winning play, not Ginobili. "No, obviously what I think and what they called are two different things. I thought I made a great play. I took advantage of how Richard (Jefferson) was guarding, attacked. I don't think I could've got a better look at it than that," Anthony said. "It's tough, you know, just going out there playing as hard as we played out there and to lose the game on something like that." The bizarre finish capped a frenetic finish in which the Nuggets erased a nine-point deficit with 6 minutes left. The Spurs led 111-108 with 8 seconds TO GO when Anthony got behind the defense for a dunk. McDyess' inbounds pass was deflected by J.R. Smith off Ginobili's head and into the arms of Anthony, whose basket gave the Nuggets a 112-111 lead with 7.1 seconds left. Ginobili's running bank shot at 4.2 seconds put the Spurs back on top 113-112. After a timeout, Anthony got the inbounds pass from Ty Lawson and drove the lane past Jefferson, but Ginobili slid over and drew the foul as Anthony's shot fluttered through the net at the buzzer and the crowd went crazy. Official Haywoode Workman waved off the basket for an offensive foul. Nuggets coach George Karl was crestfallen over the call. "It's a play that I think goes either way a lot," Karl said. "It seemed like the referees, they like to hit us with tough calls. It was a tough call. Good play. Good basketball. Melo made a great play. It's close. I've seen it called both ways." But at the buzzer? Told that TV analyst Scott Hastings said he hadn't seen that in his nearly three decades watching NBA basketball, Karl said, "I'd probably agree with Scott." Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said: "I never even saw it. I just saw Carmelo barreling to the rim and I'm thinking, 'Oh my god."' After a review, the officials put 0.4 seconds back on the clock, and the Spurs inbounded the ball for the win. It was the second game-winning play in two nights for Ginobili, who hit a fallaway jumper as time expired Wednesday, lifting San Antonio over Milwaukee 92-90. "He's a stud," Popovich said. "He's been a competitor, he's won championships here and overseas and he's been MVPs of things. He scored the two free throws down the stretch, then he scored the winning bucket and then he took the charge. That pretty much says it all about what he's capable of doing." San Antonio improved to an NBA-best 22-4 while dropping the Nuggets to just their second loss in 13 home games. Tim Duncan had 28 points and Tony Parker added 24 for the Spurs but it was Ginobili's spurt that sparked San Antonio. Averaging 20.2 points, Ginobili had just three points when he sliced in for a backdoor basket, hit a step-back basket - like the one he used to beat Milwaukee - and then hit a deep 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 94-88 lead early in the fourth quarter. Until the final minute, the highlight of the game was Smith's dunk over Gary Neal with 0.6 seconds left in the first quarter. His subsequent free throw gave the Nuggets a 37-28 lead that marked the most points the Spurs had allowed in any quarter this season. Smith took off 11 feet from the basket and slammed it through the hoop with both hands as he ran into Neal, sending him to the court. The rim-rattler drew nods of appreciation from the Nuggets bench and was posted on YouTube within minutes. Notes: Denver PG Chauncey Billups (wrist) missed his second straight game. The Nuggets hope he can return Saturday night against Minnesota. ... Spurs C DeJuan Blair returned from hyperextending his right knee Wednesday night against Milwaukee to log 14 minutes.
Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited
San Antonio Spurs sigue en racha ganadora por la conferencia oeste de la NBA. Ayer, en el estadio Pepsi Center venció como visitante a los Denver Nuggets por 113-112, sumando así su triunfo número 22 desde que comenzó la temporada, y teniendo tan solo tres caídas. El argentino Manu Ginóbili fue otra vez determinante para la obtención de la ventaja del equipo tejano.

Carmelo Anthony fue el goleador del encuentro con 31 puntos.
Tras vencer el día anterior a Milwaukee con un doble a último momento, esta vez, San Antonio venció con la mínima a Denver, con un primer cuarto con un parcial 37-28 favorable al equipo de Colorado, que sin embargo, durante el resto del encuentro, San Antonio fue remontando hasta conseguir la victoria.

Por el lado de los Nuggets, el goleador del equipo y del partido fue Carmelo Anthony, quien logró 31 puntos durante 42 minutos en cancha, le siguieron Arron Afflalo con 20 puntos durante 38 minutos en el partido, y el brasileño Nenê que llegó a los 19 puntos en 34 minutos.

Por su parte, los Spurs, tuvieron a un Tim Duncan muy efectivo con 28 puntos, en 33 minutos que estuvo en la cancha, seguido por Tony Parker con 24 puntos y 27 minutos jugados. El argentino Manu Ginóbili, quien jugó 30 minutos y logró 16 puntos, logró un doble para que los Spurs pasen a ganar, restando 4 segundos para que concluya el encuentro.