It took Carmelo Anthony a split second to beat the Thunder on Friday night.
The Thunder's Russell Westbrook (0) drives past Phoenix's Dee Brown (11) during the second half of the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns at the Ford Center on, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
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He kept reporters waiting 25 minutes to tell how he did it.
Anthony is a notoriously slow post-game dresser, but his quick trigger finger gave Denver a stunning 122-120 victory.
The Ford Center crowd of 18,613 was nothing short of delirious after Thunder forward Kevin Durant buried a 25-foot, 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to give the Thunder a 120-119 lead.
"Durant hit a tough shot,” Anthony said. "He hit two long ones on us last year. Same shot — probably a little deeper than the one tonight.”
The Nuggets’ final sequence was intended to go either to Anthony or perennial All-Star guard Chauncey Billups.
After the timeout, Anthony walked up to Kenyon Martin, who was inbounding the ball at halfcourt
Anthony: "I’m gonna get open.”
Martin: "You know they’re going to deny you the ball.”
Anthony: "I’m going to make sure I’m going to get open.”
Defended by Thunder wingman Desmond Mason, Anthony caught the ball deep in the left corner, roughly one foot from the sideline.
"I was trying to catch it closer to the basket because I knew I could get closer to the basket in 2.7 seconds,” Anthony said.
Mason held his ground.
"Desmond stood there and looked at me,” Anthony said. "I had a chance to look at his feet (and how they were positioned).
"I just shot it.”
The high-arcing bomb splashed through the basket cleanly.
And then silence as 0.1 of a second remained on the scoreboard clock.
"I felt I had a good shot once it came out (of my hand),” Anthony said. "I was just telling myself to keep my follow-through up.”
This from a man still battling an injury on his (right) shooting elbow.
Billups has been given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot,” and Anthony said it’s a name Billups will get to keep.
Anthony was given a similar name two years ago — Mr. Clutch.
The Thunder’s record is now 4-30. Anthony’s dagger might have hurt more than the Thunder’s previous 29 losses combined.
Let’s tell it like it is. Anthony’s heroics hurt the Thunder’s feelings.
"Hey, they were going to hurt our feelings, too,” Anthony said with a smile.
This would have been the Thunder’s signature win of the season, coming against the first-place team in its division.
"Tonight was a great game,” said Anthony, who finished with 31 points and nine rebounds. "The Thunder, I don’t think you can look at their record and try to figure them out. They are a good team, a young team, a fast-paced team. They’ll be all right.”
No thanks to Anthony.
John Rohde: 475-3099. John Rohde can be heard Monday-Friday from 6-7 p.m. on The Sports Animal Network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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You're an idiot, Leonard. The Thunders average ticket price is about 48 bucks...right at the league average. This is from ESPN..."The New York Knicks charge an average of $70.51 to watch a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2004."
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