Denver, Colorado -- The Nets started slow tonight against the Nuggets, perhaps feeling the effects of the up-and-down game with the Warriors last night and then the late-night travel to Denver. But they showed a fight to get back into the game for the second straight night. Unfortunately for them, they also found the same result, falling to the Nuggets at Pepsi Center 100-85.

Jason Kidd notched his 98th career triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds. He did, however, turn the ball over five times. The Nets turned the ball over 20 times as a team, leading to 18 Nugget points. The Nuggets had 15 team steals and also made an incredible 23 more free-throws than the Nets, who were 10 of 19 from the charity stripe. Denver only shot 36 percent from the field, but the Nets were just two percentage points higher.

The Nuggets were plus 20 in points in the paint and 24-11 in transition. Even with all that, the Nets got the game as close as five with just under four minutes to go but that would be the closest.

“We put ourselves into a huge deficit,” said Nets Coach Lawrence Frank.

“We had a lack of ability to drive the ball. The first half we couldn’t find any offensive energy. We had a good stretch in the third quarter to get back into the game. They were a little more aggressive in terms of getting the ball into the paint. We got the lead to five and that was the moment of truth with less than three minutes left in the game; it was anybody’s game.”

“We got off to a slow start,” said Richard Jefferson, who scored 19 to lead the Nets.

“We were playing good defense. We held this team to 36% shooting and this is a team with quality bigs and guys that attack the basket. We couldn’t hit a shot early. We couldn’t get into a real good offensive rhythm. I don’t think I was aggressive enough. Every time you post up they got three people around you. It wasn’t necessarily great defense; we were just trying to do too much.

Vince Carter scored 13 points on 5 of 16 from the field and had seven points and seven rebounds. Antoine Wright provided a spark late, totaling 13 points, including 2 of 3 from the beyond the arc and Josh Boone had another nice game down low, with 13 points on 6 of 12 shooting and 14 rebounds.

The Nuggets were led by Allen Iverson with 30 points. He was a major factor in the free-throw disparity, as he made more from the line himself (13) than the Nets did as a team. Linas Kleiza had 23 points and 11 rebounds, former Net Kenyon Martin had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Marcus Camby and 14 rebounds and four blocks to go along with six points.

The Nets (18-25) have now lost eight straight games. They look to end the trip on a better note and, most of all, put an end to the streak in Minnesota on Sunday night.

The fourth quarter opened with Denver scoring 12 unanswered and staking back out to an 18-point lead (85-67). Iverson scored the first seven points of the quarter and hence the run. But the Nets were not deterred, as they got themselves all the way back to five with 3:46 to go on an 18-5 spurt that saw Wright score 11 in it. Martin – who scored those five Nugget points in the Net run – scored again, on a lay up, pushing Denver’s lead back to seven. The Nets came up empty on their next two possessions – a Kidd three and a Jefferson jumper – and then Kleiza nailed a left corner three, with 1:46 to go. The Nuggets were back up 10 and the Nets did not threaten again as they finished 0-for-7 from the floor with one turnover.

A 7-0 third quarter run by Iverson gave Denver its biggest lead of the game, 67-45, with just under five minutes to go in the quarter. When it seemed like the Nets just had nothing left, perhaps from their taxing game at Golden State last night, they churned out a 20-4 run that got them within six on a Marcus Williams three-pointer. Iverson hit a pair of free-throws and then Carter nailed a jumper to close scoring in the quarter. The Nuggets led 73-67. Carter had 11 in the quarter as the Nets shot 60 percent, Iverson had 13 for Denver.

The Nets and Nuggets were abysmal shooting in the first half, as they each were 13-of-43 (30 percent) from the field. But Denver led 47-31 at the break. The difference: they made 16 more free-throws and had a 15-4 advantage in transition. The Nuggets led as much as 19 as Iverson scored 10, Kleiza had nine, and Camby had eight rebounds. Jefferson scored nine for the Nets, who were 2-of-8 from the line. Kidd had seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

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