Nuggets are not half bad

DENVER - It took a halftime tirade from George Karl to make sure the Denver Nuggets didn't end the season on a three-game losing streak.

Sparked by their coach, the Nuggets ended their best season in 17 years with a 119-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday for their 12th consecutive home win.

"That's the sign of a great coach," Denver's DerMarr Johnson said. "We understand that we need to put together a good half before we go into the playoffs. We were all down and we came back, we responded."

Short-handed and with nothing to play for -- Game 1 of the first round is Sunday in San Antonio -- Denver came out flat, with plenty of turnovers and defensive breakdowns to trail by 14 at halftime.

The Nuggets then pulled things together in the third quarter and ended on a high note after losing their previous two games.

"It was animated, it was a little angry," Karl said of his speech. "I think they responded pretty well defensively, a pretty decent defensive team in the second half. The first half, I have no idea. I was yelling at myself 'Did I teach them how to play defense like this?' "

Denver finished 32-8 under Karl, giving him an .800 winning percentage -- the best ever by a coach who took over an NBA team in midseason.

Carmelo Anthony had 36 points and 13 rebounds and Earl Boykins had 24 points -- 18 in the second half -- and 14 assists. Nen added 21 points and 13 rebounds, helping Denver finish 49-33 for its best season since going 54-28 in 1987-88.

"It all starts now, the playoffs," Anthony said.

Darius Miles had a careerhigh 47 points for Portland, which has its most losses (54) since 1973-74 with one game left. The Trail Blazers finished 9-32 on the road, their worst record away from Portland since they were 5-36 in 1973-74.

"It would have been extra good with a win, but it is the end of the season," Miles said. "There is really nothing to prove. We were playing against a playoff team, so I didn't expect to do something like this."

Denver played without center Marcus Camby (hamstring), power forward Kenyon Martin (knee) and backup forward Eduardo Najera (broken hand), then lost point guard Andre Miller for the second half when his back stiffened up.

But like they have over the latter part of the season, the Nuggets rallied.

Denver was much more aggressive at both ends after Karl's speech, using a 17-3 run midway through the third quarter to get back into it. The Nuggets took their first lead, 85-84, on DerMarr's Johnson's two free throws with 1:44 left, and Boykins followed with a nearly impossible, off-balance threepoint play.

Neither team led by more than four after that, and it came down to who could hit the big shots.

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