Airball = 3 points???

One of the most bizarre ref calls in recent memory couldn't deny the Nuggets this statement win over the NBA's best.

Carmelo Anthony went up and grabbed an obvious airball in front of the rim on an errant or partially blocked shot by Celtic Ray Allen, and referee Bennie Adams (remember him from the Lakers game a few years back?) decided to aware the Celtics with three points for it. That errant call brought the Celtics to within 3 points with less than 30 seconds to play, but Anthony calmly sank both free throws when he was fouled and the Nuggets held on to win by 6.

This was a statement win on quite a few levels for the Nuggets:

• Win against the best team in the NBA (by record) and ended a 16 game winning streak the Celtics had over Western Conference teams
  
  
• Great way to come out after the All-Star break
  
  
• Scored 124 points against the NBA's best defensive team, which only gives up 88 on average.

On to Player Ratings for the game: (ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest)

	Carmelo had a game high 29 points on 8-17 shooting and made several key plays down the stretch, including an amazing tight-rope walking steal that he tapped to Iverson.	Player rating: 5
	Linas had a solid game off the bench with 11 points on 4-5 shooting. He hit 2 key 3 pointers in the 4th quarter.	Player rating: 4
	Iverson had 28 points and 9 assists and hit several of his typical 4th quarter clutch shots.	Player rating: 4.5
	JR was only 3-9 shooting, but had good energy on the defensive end, including an impressive block on what looked like a break-away dunk for the Celtics.	Player rating: 4
	Camby had an amazing 9 blocks to go with 13 rebounds, but it was his step-back 3 pointer in the 4th quarter that had the crowd buzzing.	Player rating: 5
	Kenyon had a great all-around game with 19 points and 6 rebounds on 8-12 shooting. His bucket in the lane in the 4th came at a key point to help hold off the Celtics.	Player rating: 4

Final thoughts:

This was the largest crowd in Denver Nuggets history - 19,894 and they were treated to an exciting and impressive win. It sounded like a playoff game when watching it at home on HDTV.

Game Summary written by: aswitzer

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