A.I. wasn’t winning in Philly, either…

So last night we’re in the middle of a Dime-crew-and-friends poker tourney, and someone innocently asks, “Why aren’t the Nuggets winning with Carmelo and A.I.?” After watching Denver get pieced by the Mavs on Saturday, you could point to defense and not taking care of the ball as two of the problems. Iverson had 9 turnovers in the game, while ‘Melo had seven. On the other end, Denver got torched by Dirk Nowitzki (31 pts, 11 rebs, 8 asts) and Josh Howard (27 pts) … Iverson had a big first half (18 pts), but after Dallas stuck Devin Harris on him in the second, The Answer was relatively held in check, finishing with 26 and committing those aforementioned turnovers. Devin also had a crazy dunk in transition over Ed Najera. And yes, Ed, we’re still saying you got dunked on even though you recoiled in mid-air and didn’t actually challenge Devin on the play. That’s not a good look when you’ve got five inches on a guy … At least Marcus Camby made his fantasy owners happy: 10 points, 17 boards, 7 dimes, 4 steals and 2 blocks … The Mavs won their 19th straight at home, and as of right now, their first-round playoff victim would be the Clippers. Elton Brand (31 pts, 12 rebs, 8 blks) and crew jumped ahead of the Warriors for 8th place in the West with yesterday’s win over GS. Shaun Livingston went for 14 points and 14 dimes … J-Rich (18 pts) had a breakaway in the first half during which the Warriors color guy shouted “How about a little showtime?!?” J-Rich is just coming off that injury, though. He put down a real basic dunk - not exactly showtime. You could feel the disappointment in the air … How about Corey Maggette in the Orange County Register the other day? “I didn’t even know [Thursday] was the trading deadline. I thought it was the 26th,” Corey said. Really? You’ve been involved in trade rumors since before the season even began and you didn’t know when the deadline was? Right … Fun fact: Golden State’s starting five of Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Mickael Pietrus and Andris Biedrins is the only starting five in NBA history with no college experience between them … Emeka Okafor locked down Chris Bosh for a minute, keeping Bosh scoreless in the first half of yesterday’s game. Then Emeka hurt his calf and had to leave in the third quarter, and Bosh proceeded to drop 24 points on guys like Ryan Hollins and Jake Voskuhl … Charlotte had its four-game win streak snapped (that’s a big deal for them), and Gerald Wallace also left with a groin injury. Adam Morrison scored 13 in his “You shouldn’t have passed on me” game against the Raps. Andrea Bargnani had 8 points and 11 boards … The Bucks got a rare win, cruising past the Sixers behind 26 points apiece from Michael Redd and Mo Williams … Was that a double-clutch dunk from Bruce Bowen we saw? On top of that, Bruce put the cuffs on Ray Allen (12 pts, 4-for-20 shooting) in an easy Spurs win … You couldn’t really tell on Saturday, but the Sonics really are trying for that last playoff spot. Especially Earl Watson. Earl told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “I am more motivated. I’m tired of going home in April. My house is boring.” … The Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports the Heat and Grizzlies had a deal worked out before the trade deadline that would have sent Stromile Swift and Chucky Atkins to Miami for James Posey, Michael Doleac and a draft pick. But after D-Wade got hurt, the Heat pulled out … According to the Arizona Republic, Shaq recently said the last two NBA MVP awards have been “tainted,” and questioned the voting process … In college ball, Florida was upset again, losing to a Big Baby-less LSU squad on the road. You knew it wasn’t Florida’s day when Corey Brewer had it all by himself on a breakaway and lost the ball off his hip. Garrett Temple had 17 points, 8 boards and 5 dimes for the Tigers … Georgetown took over the lead in the Big East, winning its 11th in a row by knocking off Pitt at home. Jeff Green absolutely took over in crunch time, scoring in the post, making pinpoint backdoor and outlet passes, and seemingly getting to every loose ball possible. Green’s numbers weren’t huge (14 pts, 3 asts, 4 rebs, 2 stls), but he was the reason G’Town won the game … Kevin Durant dropped 32 points, 10 boards, 2 steals and 3 blocks in a win over Oklahoma … Near the end of UCLA’s win over Stanford, the Bruins fans were chanting “One more year!” at junior Arron Afflalo. Don’t get your hopes up, people … According to the L.A. Daily News, Kobe and the rest of the Lakers are calling Vlad Radmanovic “Slalom” now … We’re out like Emeka …