--F Carmelo Anthony has great respect for former Denver star Alex English and has watched tapes of him. But now Anthony has passed English to take over sole place of a team record. With 22 points Wednesday at Minnesota, Anthony became the first Denver NBA player ever to score 20 or more points in each of the season's first 15 games. Anthony had tied English's 1985-86 mark of 14 the previous night against New Jersey. "It's a good honor," Anthony said. "History is always there to break. Records are there to break. It's a great honor. I'm just trying to keep it going." That hasn't been a problem so far for Anthony. He's averaging 29.7 points to rank third in the NBA.
Anthony will try to go 16-for-16 when the Nuggets play host Friday to New York.
--Practice makes perfect. Or at least gets you a few minutes.
There was a stretch a few weeks ago when Nuggets swingman Joey Graham didn't play for two straight games and in three out of five. But Graham has been doing so well lately in practice that coach George Karl is playing him when he can. Graham has appeared in Denver's past six games, three times logging 11 or more minutes.
"Joey has been playing great in practice," Karl said. "Some of the guys got to understand how they play in practice (is important). Joey has probably been one of the best players on the court for those guys at the end of the bench."
Despite his playing time having been up and down, Graham is remaining patient.
"Coach knows me," Graham said. "I've been in the league four years, and he knows exactly what I can do. I'm just being patient and waiting for my time to be called. When it does, I'm ready to go."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're in the stage of the season where we've got to get better. We've got to figure out our personality and develop our personality." -- Nuggets coach George Karl, whose team is 11-4 but has played a relatively easy schedule.
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