It's fitting that Carmelo Anthony's teammates call him Melo, with his brilliant smile and easygoing nature.
But a closer look reveals a fierce competitor who has made it his mission to get the Denver Nuggets into the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.
"I hate to lose. That's one thing I don't like is losing," Anthony said Wednesday. "I'm going to go out there and do whatever I've got to do to help my team win."
PHOTO: AFP
That kind of attitude has made the 19-year-old Anthony a winner everywhere he's been. He led Oak Hill Academy in Virginia to a 32-1 record his senior year and helped Syracuse win its first US college title last year as a freshman.
And now Anthony's doing his best to make the Nuggets -- one of the NBA's worst franchises over the past decade -- a winner.
He became just the third teenager to score 40 or more points in an NBA game when he finished with 41 in a 124-119 victory over Seattle on Tuesday that moved the Nuggets into a tie with Utah for the Western Conference's final playoff spot.
PHOTO: AFP
With a team-leading 20.9 point scoring average and a confidence that rarely wavers, Anthony has helped Denver (39-37) more than double its win total from last season and move into position for the franchise's first playoff appearance since 1995.
Not bad for a rookie.
"He's the kind of player that you knew would make a difference, make a contribution. And he has," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "The energy he has provided as well as the skill he's brought to the team has been a factor in what they have accomplished."
Anthony certainly hasn't had a typical first season.
At a time when most rookies struggle with the long season and have a drop in production, Anthony has gotten better. His scoring average the second half of the season is 24.5, six points higher than the first half, and his shooting percent has climbed three points to 44 percent.
Anthony has been particularly effective in the final stretch of the season, leading the Nuggets in scoring in each of the past six games, including his performance against Seattle.
He got off to a great start against the Sonics -- 18 points in the first quarter -- and his teammates kept feeding him. He finished 19-for-29 to join LeBron James and Clifford Robinson as the only teens in league history to score 40 points in a game.
James, Cleveland's 19-year-old rookie sensation, had 41 against New Jersey Saturday night. Robinson scored 40 with Detroit in 1980, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"We have to still remember, he's 19 years old," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said of Anthony. "You can't get spoiled and think you're going to get that kind of performance all the time. No one gives that kind of performance all the time, but he certainly was outstanding."
Not that he's been perfect.
In a blowout loss to Detroit on March 19, Anthony refused to return in the fourth quarter after teammates questioned his shot selection. He apologized to the team the next day, but didn't realize the magnitude of his actions until a few days later when he got a call from Michael Jordan.
"He told me to never let people know how you're feeling," Anthony said. "If you've got something to say to your teammates, say it in the locker room. Then he told me that it was over with. I just have to learn from my experiences."
But one minor setback shouldn't tarnish what Anthony has done this season.
He's handled the pressure of being the savior of a franchise with relative ease, disarming the media with that charismatic smile and quieting taunts and physical play with clutch shots late in games.
"When you watch him, if you didn't know who he was, you'd say `Boy, that guy's a [great] player,'" Nuggets assistant coach John MacLeod said. "But you wouldn't qualify it by saying `He's only a rookie.' He's going to wind up having a heck of a career."
Pacers 111, Bucks 78
Ron Artest had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Jermaine O'Neal had 16 points and seven assists Wednesday as the Indiana Pacers clinched the Central Division title with a 111-78 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Pacers, an NBA-leading 55-20, secured homecourt advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs when they beat the Bucks for the first time in four tries this season.
It also allowed Rick Carlisle to join Pat Riley as the only coaches in NBA history to win a division title in each of their first three years coaching. Carlisle was tops in the division twice with Detroit before coming to Indiana this year.
Toni Kukoc, Milwaukee's high scorer, scored all 15 of his points in the second quarter to help close the gap and the Bucks went into halftime down 50-37.
Trail Blazers 105, Celtics 98
In Boston, Darius Miles scored a career-high 31 points and led a third-quarter surge that carried Portland to win over Boston.
Miles had 10 points as Portland opened the third quarter with a 20-6 run that turned a 51-48 halftime deficit into a 68-57 lead midway through the period.
Zach Randolph had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who held a 44-30 advantage on the boards. The Celtics were led by Ricky Davis with 27 points and Paul Pierce with 23.
Warriors 85, Raptors 78
In Toronto, Jason Richardson had 25 points and Golden State handed Toronto its fifth straight loss.
Erick Dampier had 14 rebounds before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter after rolling his left ankle on the foot of Toronto's Jalen Rose.
Vince Carter had 22 points for the Raptors, who remained 3 1/2 games behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston lost to Portland on Wednesday.
Bulls 109, Magic 91
In Orlando, Florida, Jamal Crawford had 27 points and nine assists, and short-handed Chicago snapped a five-game losing streak by Orlando matchup between the teams with the NBA's worst records.
Jannero Pargo added 25 points in his first start, and Eddy Curry had 24. Chicago made nine 3-pointers and scored more than 100 points for just the seventh time this season. Three of those came while sweeping the Magic.
Orlando, missing NBA scoring leader Tracy McGrady, lost its ninth consecutive game -- the longest skid since dropping a franchise-record 19 straight at the season's beginning.
Juwan Howard scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half to lead Orlando. Tyronn Lue added 23, giving him 74 in his last three games. Drew Gooden had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Nets 103, Wizards 99, OT
In Washington, Richard Jefferson had 28 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, and New Jersey broke a three-game losing streak by beating Washington in overtime.
Lucious Harris added a season-high 24 points, and Kerry Kittles scored 18 and helped forced overtime with a 3-pointer and a blocked shot in the final minute of regulation.
The Nets overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to provide an exciting finish to a game that included 46 turnovers.
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