Western Power, Eastern Bound

Visits to Indianapolis, East Rutherford, N.J., Miami, Atlanta, Chicago and Milwaukee produced just one victory in 2008-09. Those cities are on the itinerary during a six-game road trip that starts Tuesday night against the Pacers.

"In the past, we done went to Milwaukee, we done went to Chicago, we done went to New Jersey and lost them games," forward Carmelo Anthony said. "Right now, this could be a special season for us, so we don’t want to get off to that start."

No one is off to a better start than Anthony, who was named Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 37.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists. It will be a tough pace to maintain as the Nuggets play three sets of back-to-back games on the road trip.

"We’ll get no rest," Anthony said. "There’s going to come a point where we’ve got to win games mentally and that’s what we’re going to do."

Wednesday’s game against the Nets will be Denver’s first at the Izod Center since a 114-70 loss nearly nine months ago. The 44-point defeat matched the fourth-largest in franchise history, but it’s ancient history as far as the Nuggets are concerned.

"We’ve just got to focus in," forward Kenyon Martin said. "Bring our `A’ game and we can make some noise. It can be a great trip. There’s a lot of winnable games."

When the Nuggets departed for Indianapolis on Monday, the Pacers and Nets were a combined 0-5, while the Bulls and Bucks were 2-3. Miami (3-0) and Atlanta (2-1) appear to present the biggest challenge of the trip.

"We can make it good," forward Nene said. "We need to concentrate, play the right way, share the ball, play defense, communicate."

Shooting guard J.R. Smith accompanied the team to start the trip, but he must sit out four more games as part of a seven-game suspension. He is eligible to return Nov. 10 at Chicago.

"The circumstance of having J.R. out and not knowing your rotation, you’d probably like to have this (trip) three weeks from now," Karl said. "But I’m sure the teams we’re playing will have their own issues to figure out."