http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_...#ixzz18OWPyaJC
Nuggets lose to Spurs 113-112 after game-winner called off
Ginobili's shot hits, Melo's gets waved off
By Benjamin Hochman
The Denver Post
Jubilation!
Deflation.
In a matter of seconds, Carmelo Anthony's game-winning shot turned out to be a game-ending charge. In a nail-biting, 113-112 loss Thursday night to the Spurs, the Nuggets' Anthony drove the lane in the final seconds and appeared to hit the biggest shot of the season — but the officials said Manu Ginobili drew a charging foul in the lane on Melo, giving San Antonio the ball (with 0.4 seconds left) and the win.
"Obviously what I think — and what they called — are two different things," Anthony said. "I thought I made a great play. I saw how Richard Jefferson was guarding me, I attacked and I don't think we could have gotten a better look.
"It's tough going out there and playing as hard as we played, and then to lose a game on something like that."
The final minutes of the game made hearts pound, from courtside to the rafters. The Spurs led by nine with 5:35 left, but the Nuggets clawed back with some passionate play until the end.
With 8.4 seconds left, Anthony's dunk cut the Spurs lead to 111-110, then Antonio McDyess' inbounds bounced off Ginobili's head (as he was guarded by J.R. Smith) and Melo recovered the ball for another dunk — giving Denver the 112-111 lead. Ginobili then scored with 4.2 seconds left, grabbing the one-point lead back from Denver and setting up the final play.
"I never even saw it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Anthony charge. "I just saw Carmelo barreling to the rim and I am thinking 'Oh, my God.' Then it was a charge."
Ginobili had hit a game-winning shot just the night before against Milwaukee — and Thursday, he won the game on both ends of the court.
The game did show that the Nuggets — without Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups and Chris Andersen — have some fight in them, yes, sir. But a loss is a loss.
"We had moments in the third and fourth where we could have turned off our intensity,
Nuggets coach George Karl reacts to a controversial foul at the end of the San Antonio-Denver game Thursday at the Pepsi Center. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)
but we turned it up," Nuggets coach George Karl said.
As for the final call, "It's a play that goes either way a lot," said Karl, whose team is 15-10. "It seems like referees, they like to hit us with tough calls — it was a tough call. It was good basketball. He made a great play. It was close."
Karl said he thinks he has never seen a game end like that — and that's saying something for a guy with 1,000-plus wins.
As for the Nuggets' strategy on the final Anthony play, Karl said he "just wanted to get (everyone) out of his way once he got the ball. Ginobili came from a long way off. Maybe we wished Arron (Afflalo) was spaced better. But I think Ginobili would have gotten there, either way."
Anthony — whose days are numbered in Denver, barring a surprising change of heart — had another gritty game while battling a right thumb injury. No, it wasn't sparkling, like his 35-point outing against Orlando on Tuesday, but Melo finished with 31 points and nine rebounds.
The Nuggets entered the night on a 10-game home winning streak (11-1 overall at the Pepsi Center), including Tuesday's resume-builder against Orlando.
The Spurs came in with the best record in the league (21-3) but had played the night before, winning on an emotional Ginobili shot.
The Nuggets came out on the attack, trying to bury the beleaguered visitors, and led 37-28 after one quarter. But the Spurs, because they're the Spurs, made it a
game, finally taking their first lead with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
Asked if he'd seen the replay of the charge call, Anthony said, "I don't want to see it."
Read more: Nuggets lose to Spurs 113-112 after game-winner called off - The Denver Post
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...Fail
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