Denver Nuggets Notes, Quotes 2009-10-31 News Denver Nuggets

--The NBA wasted no time in giving the Nuggets a taste of what the Northwest Division will be like this season. The Nuggets opened the season Wednesday with a 114-105 win over Utah, the division champion in 2007 and 2008. The Nuggets then had to scurry to the airport to catch a flight to Portland to face their other division rival. The Trail Blazers, like the Nuggets, went 54-28 last season. The Nuggets won the Northwest due to the tiebreaker. "I think the NBA put us to the test early, giving us two big divisional games like that," said Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony.

--It was the dunk heard around the NBA. A day after Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony threw down an amazing dunk over Utah's Paul Millsap, he was still hearing plenty about it. Dwight Howard of Orlando and Quentin Richardson of Miami were among NBA players who lauded the dunk on Twitter. Midway through the fourth quarter, Anthony made a steal in the backcourt after Millsap threw a sloppy high-arching pass following a rebound. Anthony gathered the ball, and threw down a dunk in Millsap's face. He then banged on his chest in triumph.

"Once I got the steal, I knew it was just me and him," Anthony said. "I wasn't going to lay the ball up. I was going to try to dunk it. If he'd have blocked it, he'd have blocked it. It went the opposite way."

Anthony liked the dunk but stopped shy of calling it his best ever.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We have the right ingredients. But there are a lot of things that go into it. You've got to have some luck." -- Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups, who was on Detroit's 2004 title team, on whether the Nuggets have what it takes to win a title.

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