Billups' poise shines through as Nuggets duck Warriors in OT

By Frank Hughes, for NBA.com
Posted Thursday January 21, 2010 2:49AM

OAKLAND (NBA.com exclusive) -- Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups may not be getting any mention as an All-Star.

And Golden State's Monta Ellis is getting serious consideration.

But it was Billups' understated efficiency that led the Nuggets to their fourth consecutive victory, a 123-118 overtime decision at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.

While Ellis, who played all 53 minutes, both carried his team and dug its grave, Billups simply made play after play, scoring 10 points in overtime, including two 3-pointers, and a season-high 37 overall to continue Denver's recent string of solid play.

"Most of the credit has to go to Chauncey," Denver coach George Karl said. "He is, whatever, excellence, leadership, composure. He is just a big-time player."

More encouraging for the Nuggets (27-14), they won a game on the road after having dropped seven of their last eight away from Pepsi Center, including two losses to Sacramento and a game at Detroit.

The last time these teams played, the Warriors felt as if they got robbed by the referees, who seemed to call some phantom fouls that went against Golden State.

But the Warriors have only themselves to blame for this one. As well as Ellis has played recently, he was the biggest culprit on this night.

At the end of the third quarter, with Golden State leading by four, Ellis inexplicably grabbed Ty Lawson at midcourt as he was shooting a last-second shot. The officials gave Lawson three free throws, and he made all of them. Those points were important at the end of regulation, when the score was tied.

With a minute and a half left and the Warriors down by 104-100, Ellis sent a pick-and-roll pass to Andris Biedrins scuttling into the interior, where only Denver defenders happened to be.

Twelve seconds later, Ellis was fouled while taking a 3-pointer. Making all three of them would have pulled the Warriors to within 105-103, but he missed the final free throw.

Having said that, Ellis hit a 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds remaining that sent the game into overtime.

Once there, it was virtually Ellis vs. Billups. But Ellis blinked first. With the score tied at 111, he took a bad shot that led to a Billups bucket. Then, trailing by 119-117, Ellis missed the second of two free throws that allowed the Nuggets to take the lead for good.

Billups, meanwhile, did what he has done for so many good teams, making the plays when his teammates needed them.

"He was real tough," Ellis said of Billups. "He hit a lot of big shots tonight. Pretty much Carmelo (Anthony) wasn't going so he pretty much took over the game and made plays for his team."

This was Billups' sixth game back since suffering from a groin injury that kept him out for several weeks. He clearly has healed from that setback, adding eight rebounds and eight assists while turning over the ball only two times.

"I'm feeling good," Billups said. "Like I said, I didn't want to come back until I was able to do what I do. I have to just been very aggressive and will us to get wins. That is the only thing I play for: To get wins."

Except for his mistakes, Ellis was otherwise sensational, executing his 10th complete game of the season. He had 39 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, while Corey Maggette added 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The one spot the Warriors were lacking that they got excellent production from in their victory over Chicago on Monday was at center, where Andris Biedrins was mired in foul trouble.

Biedrins had 16 rebounds and eight blocks against the Bulls, but once he picked up his fifth foul in the fourth period, he could not be as aggressive. That in part allowed the Nuggets to breathlessly crash the boards.

The Nuggets got six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and another three in overtime. The Warriors are not that good defensively as it is, but when they get stops and their opponents continue to get second shots, a loss in inevitable.

"We lost this game because we didn't rebound," Nelson said. "Possession after possession we got a stop but our lack of rebounding gave them extra chances."

• Nuggets: Petro
• Warriors: Azubuike, Bell, Claxton, Randolph, Wright

• Nuggets: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 16

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #34 Marc Davis, #47 Bennie Adams, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 17223
• Duration: 2:50