Note From The Underground

A Winning Tribute

Somewhere, deposed Nuggets general manager Allan Bristow is smiling. Against the Wizards last week Denver, down 89-87, had the ball with 24.2 seconds left. Nuggets coach Bill Hanzlik called for a play designed by Bristow when he coached the Hornets: a three-man weave at the top of the arc with a double screen on the left block. Anthony Goldwire, who had played for Bristow in Charlotte, remembered the set, so he was chosen as the weaver to break out from behind the screen. When Johnny Newman passed him the ball with 7.2 seconds to go, Goldwire stroked a three from the left corner, and the Nuggets won for the third time in seven days, matching their victory total for the past seven weeks.