DENVER (AP) - Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups was introduced Sunday before Denver's win over Dallas by one of his childhood heroes, Hall of Famer John Elway.
Elway, who led the Denver Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships before retiring a decade ago, donned a Billups' No. 7 jersey when he walked to halfcourt and introduced the floor leader born and raised in Denver."There's only ever going to be one No. 7 in this town, and that's John Elway," Billups said after the game. "That was awesome. I'll remember that forever, just because of my admiration for John.
"There will only be one No. 7 in this town."
Billups is quickly changing that notion, however.
He led the Nuggets to a franchise-tying 54-win regular season and their first win in a playoff series in 15 years. Dallas beat Denver 109-95 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven second-round series.
That gave the Nuggets 59 wins, tied for the second-most since the team joined the NBA in 1976 and just one shy of the franchise mark set by the 1984-85 team.
