The Denver Nuggets insist on leaving the back door open. The New Orleans Hornets are doing the same with the front door.
Both the Nuggets and Hornets lost on the road on Saturday night and wasted opportunities to solidify their positions at the bottom and top of the Western Conference playoff race.
The Nuggets allowed a staggering 68 points in the paint and led for just 24 seconds in a 124-97 loss at Utah that dropped them back into a tie with the Golden State Warriors for the eighth and final playoff spot.
PHOTO: AP
“I don’t know where the game went wrong, to be honest with you,” Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said.
The Hornets squandered a fourth-quarter lead in a 94-91 loss at Sacramento that dropped them into a first-place tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the West playoffs.
“It’s a shame that we’re in a position where we could let it slip away from us the last week of the regular season just because we can’t put together a good basketball game,” Hornets forward David West said.
Turkey’s Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 15 rebounds and Deron Williams had 19 and 11 assists despite a nasty spill for Utah (53-27), which is trying to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Ronnie Brewer scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, when the Jazz raced to a 40-25 lead after one quarter before allowing a 14-0 run at the start of the second period and eventually settling for a 62-59 advantage.
Denver took its only lead at 71-70 on a jumper by Anthony Carter with 6:40 left in the third period. Utah responded with a 20-8 spurt to close the quarter that included two free throws by Williams, who fell hard on his back when he was flagrantly fouled by Anthony on a drive to the basket.
Williams left for the locker room but returned to the court in the fourth quarter, when the Jazz turned it into a rout, holding the Nuggets below 100 points for the first time in 21 games.
Allen Iverson scored 28 points for the Nuggets (48-32), who finish with home games against Houston and Memphis. They hold the tiebreaker over the Warriors after Thursday’s win at Golden State but have looked very shaky in losing three of their last five games.
“There is no tomorrow after tomorrow if we don’t take care of business,” Iverson said.
Ron Artest made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to fuel a rally and finished with 22 points for the Kings (38-42), who put the Hornets (55-25) in danger of falling from first to fifth in the West with another loss.
After a sluggish first half, the Hornets grabbed a 73-68 lead entering the fourth quarter. Artest drained consecutive 3-pointers to give the Kings a 76-75 edge.
“Ron hit some big shots for us,” said Kings guard John Salmons, who scored 18 points. “He stepped up like he’s done all year.”
Sacramento never trailed again. Artest’s fourth 3-pointer built the lead to 91-85 with 51 seconds to go. New Orleans put together a furious rally and had a chance to tie, but Serbia native Peja Stojakovic — who had made a 3-pointer seconds earlier — saw another rattle in and out at the buzzer.
“[Lakers coach] Phil Jackson said, ‘Watch out for the Kings,’” Sacramento coach Reggie Theus said. “From the beginning to the end, we outplayed them.”
West had 30 points and 15 rebounds and MVP candidate Chris Paul had 14, 12 assists and six steals for the Hornets, who have lost three of four to give away a two-game lead atop the West.
“This is the worst loss for us of the year because we knew how important these last few games are,” West said.
New Orleans loses the tiebreaker to Los Angeles (55-25), which hosts San Antonio (54-25) on Sunday. Houston also is 54-25 and visits Denver later yesterday.
“Now we’re just about tied with everybody else and we have to watch the standings instead of just worrying about winning ourselves,” Paul said.
Golden State 122, LA Clippers 116
Stephen Jackson scored 28 points and Baron Davis added 25 and nine assists as the host Warriors (48-32) pulled even with the Nuggets. Golden State visits Phoenix today and hosts Seattle on Wednesday.
Portland 108, Dallas 105
Brandon Roy scored 23 points to help host Portland snap Dallas’ three-game winning streak. German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points for the Mavericks, who are virtually locked into the seventh seed in the West.
Charlotte 107, Indiana 103
The host Pacers (35-45) were pushed to the brink of elimination as their four-game winning streak came to an end.
Danny Granger scored a career-high 37 points for Indiana, which must win its last two games while Atlanta loses its last two to make the playoffs. Jason Richardson scored 26 for Charlotte.
Boston 99, Atlanta 89
Sam Cassell scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Boston pulled away for its ninth win in 10 games. Joe Johnson had 21 points and eight assists for Atlanta, which still needs one win or a loss by Indiana to clinch its first postseason berth since 1999.
Washington 109, Philadelphia 93
Gilbert Arenas scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, when host Washington (42-38) outscored Philadelphia, 31-9.
He secured its hold on fifth place in the East. Andre Iguodala scored 22 for the 76ers (40-40), who dropped behind Toronto into seventh.
New Jersey 111, Milwaukee 98
Richard Jefferson scored 24 points for New Jersey, which handed host Milwaukee its sixth straight loss.
Minnesota 114, Memphis 105
Rashad McCants scored 23 points as visiting Minnesota has won two in a row after a six-game slide.
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