Nuggets cruise to win over New Jersey Nets - Denver Post

The Nuggets' Al Harrington, right, defends the Nets' Kris Humphries during the first half Wednesday at the Pepsi Center. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Denver's Florida national-champion luminary attacked the red, white and blue defense the way, well, Denver hopes another Florida national-champion luminary will attack a red, white and blue defense.

Corey Brewer, a Nuggets reserve guard, scored 19 points in just 16 minutes, sparking Denver in its 123-115 Wednesday win against New Jersey. The former Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four sky-walked all night over the Nets, using his blistering speed to score in transition. Teammate Danilo Gallinari also exploded against lowly New Jersey (2-9), scoring 17 first-quarter points and finishing with 22.

The Nuggets, who scored a season-high points, are now 7-4 heading into Friday's much-anticipated home game against Miami,

the lone time LeBron James and his buddies come to town this regular season.

Andre Miller got the start Wednesday, while Ty Lawson rested his strained right foot. Miller was magical. He lobbed alley-oops and lofted lead passes en route to 12 assists â€" his previous season-high was 11. He also finished with a double-double, thanks to 12 points.

Prior to the game, coach George Karl discussed why Chris "The Birdman" Andersen hadn't played much of late.

"When he's on the court right now, we're getting hammered a little bit," Karl said. "It's not all his fault, but he's been on the court five, six minutes where we go down eight, nine points. And I bail and bring in someone else. He knows I still trust him. We need Bird to have his energy games."

But the Birdman was back Wednesday, soaring and scoring. He finished with nine points, six rebounds and two blocks, while playing important minutes in the fourth quarter, when the Nets made a push but were thwarted. For the night, he logged 17 minutes â€" he entered the night with an average of 11.6.

The Nuggets finished the game with a season-high 37 assists â€" one of Karl's favorite statistics â€" and Denver also shot 59.5 percent from the field, flirting with its season-high for much of the night (60.5)

Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com