Sports / Basketball |
Blizzard delays Suns-Nuggets game(AP)Updated: 2006-12-21 09:38 First, a whirlwind. Next, a blizzard. Less than 24 hours after their blockbuster deal to acquire Allen Iverson, the Denver Nuggets postponed their game Wednesday night against Phoenix because of a snowstorm that snarled traffic, closed the airport and forced the governor to declare a state of emergency.
No makeup date had immediately been set. With harsh wind blowing the 12-plus inches of snow expected to hit Denver, it was no night for venturing out to the Pepsi Center, and nobody benefited more than the Nuggets. Denver faced the prospect of playing the Suns, who are on a 15-game winning streak, without Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith (suspended), Andre Miller and Joe Smith (traded), or Iverson, who hadn't yet made it to town because of weather and other logistics. Nuggets spokesman Eric Sebastian said the team still wasn't sure when "The Answer" would finally arrive. Denver's next game is Friday night at home against Sacramento. The storm was expected to last into Thursday, when Denver International Airport will be trying to play catch-up in the wake of about 1,000 flight cancellations. Those issues aside, the NBA and Nuggets agreed to postpone the game for safety reasons. It is, however, unusual for the league to call off a game when both teams and the officials are all in town, as was the case Wednesday night. The Suns arrived early Wednesday morning after a home win over Toronto. "It's extremely rare," Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said. "The league is very good at listening. We had a lot of conversations during the day. We had people right and left talking with state agencies. The determination was that to put 1,000 cars on the road would be unsafe and irresponsible. After all the input, the league made a prudent and proper decision." While the timing of Iverson's arrival was still in limbo, the seven-time All-Star reiterated how excited he was to be with the Nuggets in an interview on ESPN. "I'm happy the whole process is over," he said, doing the interview wearing an old-school Nuggets cap embroidered with a pickax. "I'm more happy with the situation I was put in. I was put in a situation where I can succeed." Three hours before the scheduled tip-off, workers were buzzing around the arena preparing for the game, but a big cheer could be heard in the hallways when official word came that the game was off. Nuggets fans are likely pleased, as well. When word of the Iverson trade went down Tuesday, lines formed outside the ticket office at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets reported selling 340 season tickets within a half-hour of the announcement and several hundred for the Suns game, though it's probable many would have had to eat their tickets had the game been played Wednesday night. Warkentien said a decision on the rescheduling would be made at a later date. "It made it a little easier that it was Phoenix and not Miami or Philadelphia," he said. "It's only a 1 1/2 -hour flight." Sebastian said team records show this was the first Denver home game postponed since April 20, 1999, when the Nuggets scrubbed a game against Portland in the aftermath of the Columbine High School slayings. The rescheduling has the potential to push back Anthony's return date. He received a 15-game suspension for his role in last weekend's brawl against the Knicks. He had been scheduled to be back Jan. 20 at Houston, though this could push that back two days, to a Jan. 22 game at home against Memphis. AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed to this report.
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