Carmelo Anthony gets a wide-open shot in the final seconds, and the Nuggets' star makes the Celts pay.

11:48 AM EST on Thursday, December 16, 2004

BY SHALISE MANZA YOUNG
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- With 13 years of experience as an NBA player and five years spent as a head coach, Boston's Doc Rivers knows about fatigue and how it can affect a player on the court.

AP photo

The Nuggets' Kenyon Martin, front, tries to drive past Raef LaFrentz of the Celtics in the first half last night at the FleetCenter.

Last night, before his Celtics went on the FleetCenter floor against Denver after having returned from a West Coast trip Tuesday morning, Rivers told the players, "When you're tired, your offense will always fail, but your defense can never fail."

Boston did not heed his warning. Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony came off a pick-and-roll in the closing seconds and hit a 19-foot jumper for the game-winning basket in Denver's 100-99 victory.

Paul Pierce had 3.6 seconds to take the final shot for Boston, but his buzzer-beater was off the mark.

"We kind of told them what was coming, and we didn't execute our defense very well, so that's disappointing," Rivers said. "We assumed they'd pick-and-roll with Carmelo."

Anthony had 25 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists as Denver snapped a two-game losing streak despite playing on back-to-back nights. The Nuggets lost at Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"I was surprised that I was so wide-open," Anthony said of his final shot. "During the whole game they were double-teaming me, trapping me every chance they got, and on that play I was so wide-open."

Boston had a two-game winning streak going, but lost its fifth game by three points or less.

Pierce didn't have a lot of time to get his final shot off, but said it was the look he wanted.

"I just wanted to get off a shot. I got in on the left side where I like the ball and just missed it," he said.

Rivers told Pierce that the next time he's in that situation, he shouldn't dance as much and just take the shot because it gives the defense more time to get to him.

In the end, however, Rivers believed the game didn't need to come down to the final shot, since the shaky defensive effort last night kept Denver going. The Nuggets shot just over 48 percent from the field and had 18 fast-break points. They pulled down 38 defensive rebounds, and three players had double-doubles: Anthony, Kenyon Martin (18 points, 11 boards) and Marcus Camby (16 points, 11 rebounds). That trio also combined for 11 blocked shots.

Offensively, Rivers rated the game a 3 (out of 10). Pierce had 31 points, Ricky Davis 18, Mark Blount 13 and Gary Payton 11 (and 10 assists). Raef LaFrentz had a season-high 15 rebounds.

Boston shot only 39.3 percent from the field, though it did have 20 second-chance points.

After a balanced first quarter, the Celtics were up, 26-24. But they had a six-minute stretch in the second where they were scoreless, committed five turnovers, missed eight shots and got down by 12 points, 39-27. A Pierce free throw ended the drought.

Denver led, 48-41, at the half, and Boston reclaimed the lead, 65-64, with 4:30 left in the third period on a layup by Pierce.

There was an electrifying stretch in the fourth quarter when the teams traded consecutive 3-pointers -- first Bryon Russell, then Jiri Welsch, then Earl Boykins and Davis.

Because Marcus Banks struggled at the point in the first half, and with Payton coming off a 49-minute game against the Clippers, Rivers used Davis at the point.