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DENVER -- Every chance he gets, Los Angeles Lakers guard Coby Karl razzes his dad, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, suggesting he'll win an NBA title before his father ever does.
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But the rookie reserve thought better than to rib his father on Sunday.
"Today is not a day for trash-talking," Coby said as he prepared for the Lakers' practice at the Pepsi Center, followed by dinner with dad.
George Karl's team trails 3-0 in the best-of-7 series and in their 102-84 blowout loss at home on Saturday night, he was heckled on the bench by none other than his All-Star forward, Carmelo Anthony.
"Just don't sit there!" Anthony bellowed as Karl watched his bench players hustle in the fourth quarter while his ineffective starters watched dejectedly from the bench.
Afterward, Anthony, who is 4-15 in the playoffs in his career, accused the Nuggets, from Karl on down, of quitting.
Karl said his hearing's so bad that he never realized 'Melo was heckling him, and he demurred when asked if he had a clear-the-air meeting Sunday with his disgruntled All-Star who had accused him of quitting.
"I didn't hear his comments other than I thought we played a pretty good fourth quarter," Karl said. "Statistically and on film the fourth quarter was one of our better basketball performances. I don't quite comprehend the connotation other than fighting through frustration and being emotional after the game."
Karl's other All-Star, Allen Iverson, said he was insulted at playing just over one minute in the fourth quarter, when Marcus Camby didn't play at all and Kenyon Martin played just over four minutes.
"I have to coach the game," Karl said. "There's no personal thing there. I wanted to try a different look. If the game would had gotten back in hand, I would have put him back in the game.
"In some ways I'm happy he's angry because he wants to play and that's fantastic."
Unlike the Lakers, who practiced for 90 minutes, the Nuggets never got onto the court Sunday.
"It's a day of regrouping, re-energizing," said Karl, who showed his team 10 minutes of film, then opened the floor to assistant coach Tim Grgurich for a pick-me-up talk.
