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New father Anthony out as Nuggets face Warriors

Mar 7, 2007 - 10:36 PM Denver (29-29) at Golden State (27-35) 10:30 pm EST

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) - All-Star Carmelo Anthony will not play Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors, and Denver Nuggets coach George Karl has nothing to do with it.

Anthony became a father Wednesday afternoon as his fiancee La La Vazquez delivered their son, Kiyan. The boy weighs 5 pounds, 9 ounces and measures 18 1/2 inches.

Karl recently has been taking measure of Anthony, who leads the NBA in scoring at better than 30 points per game. In a story in Tuesday's Denver Post, the coach said he would consider benching his superstar if he did not mature.

Anthony admitted he took it personally.

"Of course, (I read) all of it, 'cause what I read is not true," Anthony said. "I'm not an immature person, I know that. Hopefully you guys know that. Just last week I was the most mature person in the whole NBA; now I'm immature."

On Tuesday, Anthony put together a solid all-around game, scoring 21 points as the Nuggets posted a 106-91 victory over the New Orleans Hornets. He made 8-of-18 shots and collected seven rebounds and six assists.

"I just wanted to come out and just win a basketball game and prove to people I don't have to score 30 points to win a basketball game," he said.

Second-year forward Linas Kleiza likely will start in place of Anthony for Denver, which has won three of its last four games and is seventh in the Western Conference, one game in front of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Golden State stopped a six-game losing streak with Monday's surprising 111-93 victory at Eastern Conference-leading Detroit on Monday. Jason Richardson scored a season-high 29 points and Baron Davis added 15 in his return after missing 13 games with a knee injury.

The Warriors are 12th in the Western Conference, three games behind the Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Denver has averaged 126.0 points in winning all three games from Golden State this season.