Nuggets not up to the task vs. Lakers

DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets just can't seem to keep their emotions or Kobe Bryant in check.

Bryant led a balanced offense with 22 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers took a 3-0 lead in their first-round series, routing the flustered Nuggets 102-84 on Saturday.

Game 4 is Monday night, and the Nuggets are going to have to get more out of their all-star duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson if they hope to take the series back to the Staples Center.

For once, the Nuggets clamped down on defense, but their high-flying offense was missing as Anthony and Iverson had their worst performance together since the two superstars first teamed up 16 months ago.

"I was getting to the basket, I just wasn't finishing," Iverson said. "And the same thing happened to 'Melo."

Anthony and A.I. shot a combined 10-for-38 and finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

No thanks to the Lakers, either, suggested coach Phil Jackson.

"I thought our defense packed it in on them, but they missed some easy shots," Jackson said. "I told the team at halftime, 'They're not going to shoot like this for the whole game. They missed some close shots, some shots they usually make. We'll have to play better defense in the second half.'

"But they never showed up. They never got it going."

Iverson sat out all but 1:11 of the fourth quarter, when Nuggets coach George Karl emptied his bench, prompting Anthony to accuse the team of quitting.

"In a game like tonight, on our home court, us giving up as a whole is uncalled for," Anthony fumed. "Yeah. We quit. Everybody. From the coaches to the players, we quit. And I said it.

"I'm not blaming anyone. I'm not pointing the fingers at nobody. I didn't play worth a (expletive) tonight, and I can accept that. But as a competitor, there's no way that I should lay down and quit and lay down on my team like we did tonight."