Nuggets Rise to Occasion With Natt on Bench

Danny Schayes ran into Calvin Natt in the Denver Nuggets dressing room Thursday night. “Hey Calvin,” Schayes asked, “did you get your exercise tonight?”

Of course, Natt got his exercise. He was almost worn out from cheering his teammates on. His hands must have hurt almost as much as his sprained left ankle from clapping so much.

Heaven knows there was a lot for Natt to clap about. The Nuggets, with Natt in street clothes at the end of the bench, laid a Texas-sized whipping on the Dallas Mavericks, 131-99, in front of 12,616 fans at McNichols Sports Arena.

With the victory, the Nuggets ran their record to 6-0 -- the only perfect mark in the NBA -- going into Friday night’s game against the Lakers at the Forum.

“Bleeping awesome,” was how Nuggets coach Doug Moe described it. “I don’t know how we can play better than that. It was incredible. That was a complete domination.”

Especially in the third quarter, when the Nuggets outscored the Mavs 42-14 to roll to a 45-point lead at the end of the period. At one point, the Nuggets scored 17 consecutive points to turn an impressive 72-50 lead into a mind-boggling 89-50 advantage.

After that ... well, after that, who cares? Mavericks coach Dick Motta certainly didn’t. Motta said he gave up in the second quarter, when the Mavericks made five of 26 shots -- they finished the game 34 for 104 (.327) -- and fell behind 56-39 at the half.

“I got over that halfway through the second quarter,” Motta said when asked if he was angry about his team’s performance, which left the Mavericks’ record at 2-4. “I just hope the bus starts. It could have been worse. If Natt had suited up, we wouldn’t have gotten 80.”

The Nuggets defense was that good. And, this time, the offense may have been even better. For the first time this season, the Nuggets shot better than 50 percent (52-for-102, .510) from the floor -- and without Natt, their best percentage shooter.

“I think, with Calvin out, everybody pulled together,” said center Wayne Cooper, who played his finest game of the season with 18 points, 11 rebounds and a staggering eight blocked shots. “We came out from the opening tip and ... well, you saw it. We were ready to play.”

“With Calvin out, I think everybody played that much harder,” said Alex English, who made 11 of 16 shots and finished with a game-high 30 points. “It was really a fantastic job by everybody. I think Pete inspired us, the way he came out and played.”

That would be rookie forward Pete Williams who, to the surprise of many, started in place of Natt. All Williams did was grab a game-high 13 rebounds, including six in the game’s first eight minutes. Throw in eight points and three assists and you’ve got as good a performance as Moe could have hoped for.

Better, in fact.

“I didn’t think he’d play that well,” said Moe. “That’s a tough position to be put in, playing against a tough player (Mark Aguirre, who scored 12 points before retiring to the bench in the third quarter). I can honestly say I didn’t have a feel for how he’d play.”

Moe did think, though, that the Nuggets would rise to the occasion in Natt’s absence.

“It’s not going to go like this for us all season, but right now we’re playing so well,” he said. “We’re doing everything right.”

They won’t always. The bubble might burst Friday night against the mighty Lakers. But thoughts like that weren’t on the Nuggets’ minds Thursday night.

“I don’t know how long this is going to continue,” said English. “I just want to enjoy this. The way we played tonight, it was very special.”