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The Denver Nuggets appeared to have pulled off a win just before the final buzzer last night when Carmelo Anthony sunk a basket with just 0.4 seconds on the clock. But officials called Anthony for an offensive charge, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 113-112 edge at the Pepsi Center. Carmelo led Denver with 31 points and believes his shot should have counted, even though he made contact with the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili: “Obviously, what I think and what they called are two different things. I thought I made a great play,” Anthony says (recap via ESPN). The Nuggets were “robbed,” writes Denver Stiffs, calling out Ginobili for a flop and saying the Argentine player has “added yet another chapter in his long history of Nuggets hate.”
Not all of last night’s memories are bitter, however. Fans are still talking about JR Smith’s YouTube-worthy slam dunk at the end of the first quarter, when he leapt into the air 11 feet from the basket and threw the ball through the hoop over a Spurs defender (video via The Denver Post). The Denver loss snapped a 10-game home winning streak and dropped the Nuggets’ record to 15-10, notes the Post, although it did come against the team with the league’s best record. Denver will face the divisional doormat Minnesota Timberwolves at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night, and then take another shot at the Spurs in San Antonio next week.