NBA
Billups, Anthony let team down in Game Six
Published: May 31, 2009, 12:30 am
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DENVER — Chauncey Billups almost always wins elimination games. Carmelo Anthony never wins them.
The guys who comprised the glue that held the Denver Nuggets together in the Western Conference finals left Pepsi Center as losers Friday night, coming apart in a series-ending 119-92 defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Six.
Billups hardly resembled the player who carried the Detroit Pistons past the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. This time, the Lakers held Denver’s hometown hero to 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting, with five turnovers negating nine assists. He averaged 21.3 points the first 15 playoff games.
Falling to 0-6 in elimination games, Anthony scored 25 points but shot 6 for 17 and was outplayed by Kobe Bryant, whose 35 points paced the Lakers. Anthony had 30-plus points in a franchise-record seven playoff games.
“When you’re facing elimination, you’ve got to leave it on the court,” Billups said. “You can’t be outworked. You can’t be outrebounded. All the things that happened can’t happen when you’re facing elimination.”
With his shot not dropping, Billups tried to get going as a distributor, but he lacked explosiveness and the Lakers doubled him on pick-and-rolls.
Plus, his teammates didn’t help, shooting 43.8 percent.
“I’m not going to take a lot of bad shots,” Billups said. “I’m always going to try to make the right play and kick it out to whoever is open. I’m not going to shoot a lot of shots just so I can score.”
Anthony couldn’t find his rhythm. He worked his way to the line 15 times, hitting 12 free throws.
However, the Lakers’ Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom crowded the basket in the second half, forcing him to settle for long jumpers.
“What else did you want me to do out there?” Anthony said. “The Lakers did a [heck] of a job making adjustments, shifting their defense, putting two or three guys in my face.”
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