LeBron James went two picks higher than Carmelo Anthony in the NBA draft, entered the league with more hype and got the better end of the endorsement deals.
But when the two rookie sensations face each other for the second time tonight, Anthony will have one key advantage: a better team.
While Cleveland hasn't been much better with King James than it was without him, Anthony has the Nuggets playing their best basketball in a decade.
"Our confidence level is real high right now," Anthony said. "I'm not saying we're going to beat everybody, but we're going to compete with everybody. That's one thing I know that we're going to do."
At 10-6, Denver is off to its best start since 1994-1995 -- its last playoff appearance -- and is just a half-game behind Dallas in the Midwest Division. The Nuggets have won five straight at home and are 7-1 in Denver, their best start there since 1989-1990.
Not bad for a team that threatened the league's futility mark twice in six years and tied Cleveland for the worst record a year ago.
"I like the Denver team a lot," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "They have good young players. They play hard. They rebound."
And they have Anthony.
After struggling to find his shot early in the season, 'Melo has shot 47 percent the past three games. He's averaging 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and has given Denver clutch plays.
Anthony hit three 3-pointers in overtime two weeks ago against the Los Angeles Clippers, and he had a key putback over Shawn Bradley late in a win over Dallas on Saturday.
"He's learning with a tremendous amount of responsibility on his shoulders, and he's responding extremely well," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said.
James hasn't been bad, either.
He's averaging 17.5 points, 7 rebounds and 6.4 assists, while proving the jump from high school to the NBA wasn't too big for him. But it hasn't resulted in many wins.
Cleveland has the league's second-worst record at 4-13 and has lost six straight, including a double-overtime loss to Memphis Saturday after blowing a 24-point lead.
Granted, the six losses have come without power forward Carlos Boozer, but the Cavaliers are still 0-10 away from Gund Arena and have a 31-game road losing streak dating to last season.
"We can't keep falling down in the standings, we need to get some wins," James said. "Once we get off the schneid on the road, we'll be off and running."
Andre Miller has also been steady at the point, diminutive Earl Boykins has proved a speedy spark off the bench, and Jon Barry and Voshon Lenard have given the Nuggets the outside shooting that was missing a year ago.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was