Nuggets' buddy system working

Nuggets stars Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony enter playoffs hitting stride as double trouble for opponents.

Given a chance to gloat, Allen Iverson instead laughed off an opportunity to say "I told you so."

"You can say that," he said.

The laugh and smile faded.

Denver's trade for Iverson in December was one of the biggest stories in the NBA this season. Everyone had an opinion about how it would work and whether A.I. and Melo would share the ball. The evidence is in heading into the first-round playoff series against San Antonio. The Anthony-Iverson combo has hit its stride.

"That was a big deal for myself and (Carmelo), to be able to say that," Iverson continued. "And it just shows what type of players we are, to put our egos aside and try to accomplish the same goal. Both of us have the same goal, and that's to win a championship. The only way you're going to be able to do it is together."

Anthony said, "We knew it would work out."

Fast friends off the court, the two have given the Nuggets the look of a dangerous team on it, combining to average 55.2 of the Nuggets' 105.4 points per game.

"You've got two great scorers," Los Angeles Clippers forward Tim Thomas said. "They are going to cause problems for any team."

The Clippers ousted the Nuggets from the playoffs a year ago in part by smothering Anthony, who had little help at the offensive end.

"Last year, it was easy to send two guys at Carmelo to get the ball out of his hands, but this year it's a different team," Thomas said.

Said Nuggets center Marcus Camby: "On nights where they double- and triple-team Carmelo, it's good to have another scorer like A.I."

Iverson made his name and built his Hall of Fame résumé by keeping the Philadelphia 76ers afloat for 10-plus seasons, and doing it with flair. In Denver he has been happy to blend in, deferring when necessary or taking charge if needed.

"I'm trying to win a championship," Iverson said. "Anything less would be disappointing to me. I want to win a championship. That's it."

Getting it together

Only in the past month has Anthony openly admitted to "lying to myself" about the speed in which he and Iverson could perfect their on-court chemistry.

Nuggets coach George Karl never pretended the union would be a finished product from Day One.

"A comfort zone doesn't come in 2 1/2 months in the NBA," Karl said. "It usually comes in 2 1/2 years. But that doesn't mean you can't win games; it doesn't mean you can't figure it out in a short period of time."

After a rocky start, the duo inched over the .500 mark again after the 19th game that they were both in the lineup. The victory March 20 over New Jersey put Denver at 10-9 when both were on the court. A 9-1 finish leading up to the regular-season finale, when both sat out, pushed Denver to 20-15 with the Melo-A.I. combination.

"We knew it would take some time," Anthony said. "It took a couple of games, but once it started, it started."

Lakers star Kobe Bryant said he never doubted the Nuggets' tandem would produce.

"It looks good to me," Bryant said. "You got one guy penetrating on the perimeter doing his thing and another guy on the low post. It's a serious threat. We couldn't do anything with it. That's why we had to go to a zone."

Both sacrificed parts of their offensive game to make it work. When Anthony returned from his 15-game suspension in January, he was leading the league in scoring with a 31.6-point average. Iverson came to Denver averaging 31.2 points, second best in the league.

Both since have fallen, with Anthony finishing second to Bryant at 28.9 points per game while Iverson finished eighth overall, at 26.3. And while they are taking fewer shots than before, they have raised their efficiency level. Iverson was shooting 41.3 percent in Philadelphia compared to 45.4 percent in Denver's free-wheeling, fast-breaking system.

"He plays with a lot of heart, a lot of energy," Bryant said of Iverson. "What I like about him is he's extremely creative."

Different playoff dynamic

Anthony is better off now. He knows that.

In each of the past three postseasons he has had an "S" on his chest and therefore a target on his back. The Spurs in 2005 and the Clippers last season made it clear their objective was to get the ball out of Anthony's hands and force someone else - anyone else - to try to beat them. The Nuggets didn't have anybody else.

"It's going to be hard for them to say it now," Anthony said.

Iverson is the reason. A longtime Western Conference scout viewed the Anthony-Iverson combo through a lens similar to the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, who won the NBA title as a No. 6 seed with the combination of Hakeem Olajuwon (27.8 points per game) and Clyde Drexler (21.4).

"When you have two guys that can go for 40 points each, that's scary," the scout said.

Iverson averages 30.6 points for his career in the playoffs, and some of his triumphs have grown into legend. At the top of the list is his 48-point performance in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals, leading Philadelphia to an upset victory in overtime; the 76ers lost the series in five games to Bryant's Lakers.

"The last couple of years in the playoffs, we had a lot of teams just load up on Melo and make it tough for the other guys out there," Camby said. "But now you have to sort of pick your poison. If you try to take Melo away, it's going to free up A.I., and he just relishes that moment.

"He's a big-time scorer and probably one of the best clutch players ever to go down in history."

Anthony said he is relieved not to bear the burden of carrying the team alone. He dismisses the idea that he and Iverson would fight over the basketball during the playoff spotlight. And Anthony has a lot to prove with a career playoff average of 18.6 points - nearly six points less than his regular-season average - and a shooting percentage of .362.

"It's going to work," Anthony said. "We've got seven games. One night he might win a game by himself; one night I might win one; one night the rest of the team might win one. But we're going to go out there and compete, I can tell you that."

Equal Opportunity:
A look at games in which Nuggets stars Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony have shared the floor this season.
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