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Harris, Nets put big chill into Nuggets

Feb 8, 2009 - 4:31 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Nets and the Denver Nuggets came into Saturday's clash riding hot hands.

The Nets remained scorching, torching the Nuggets, 114-70, behind Devin Harris' 28 points.

"It was one of those nights," Denver coach George Karl said. "Sometimes you're one step slow, tonight we might have been two steps slow. You feel empty when you get your butt kicked, but realizing how many nights we've gone to bed at 5 o'clock in the morning, you never want to give in to fatigue, but understanding fatigue might be the best way to go from a basketball standpoint."

Harris scored 17 points in the first half as the Nets surged to a 59-39 lead at the break. The All-Star had only three baskets but was 11-of-13 from the line in the opening 24 minutes.

The beat went on in the third quarter as Harris added another 11 points and the Nets pushed the margin past the 30-point mark. New Jersey enjoyed a 68-36 edge over the middle 24 minutes.

"We played well all the way around," Harris said. "We had some lapses but for the most part we did a decent job, got out in transition, which was something that we had been struggling with.

"Obviously we wanted to finish this stretch before the All-Star break on a high note so we can come back and jump right into it. This was a quality team and we got a quality win. Hopefully, this will continue to lift the confidence of our young guys."

The Nuggets, who came in winners of four straight and seven of eight, were paced by Carmelo Anthony's 15 points.

"It was just one of those nights," Anthony said. "I guess people have them. We can say we were fatigued, we were tired, but we still had to go out there and play. It is what it is. I'm pretty sure we're going to make it up to ourselves.

"It's easy to forget a game like this. We forgot about it already."

The Nets have won four straight as they head to Orlando for a meeting with the powerful magic on Sunday.

"We're really starting to come together and once we can get our veterans and rookies on the same page, everything is going to fall into place," said Nets guard Vince Carter, who scored 12 points.

"Tonight we moved the ball extremely well, focused and defended people individually better. We looked focused throughout the game. From the first quarter to the fourth quarter, we came out strong and kept our intensity."

Ryan Anderson picked up his first double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds as everyone chipped in for New Jersey.

"The game is definitely getting easier for me as I gain more experience on the court as a starter," the rookie from Cal said. "You have to get that lead in the beginning and keep it going, and I'm starting to feel more comfortable with that.

"When guys are diving on the floor, getting deflections and blocking shots, everybody feeds off that, the energy is there and you can tell somebody is giving their all for the team and you want to, too. We had so many guys step up and do that tonight."