DENVER -- Another road game, another emotional encounter.
Rasheed Wallace returned to Portland Thursday night, a game the Pistons won, 83-68. Wallace had played with the Trail Blazers for 7 1/2 seasons. Now the Pistons play tonight at Denver, where the Nuggets are led by super-rookie Carmelo Anthony. The team also includes two former Pistons -- Rodney White and Jon Barry.
Anthony remains miffed that the Pistons didn't bring him to the Palace for a workout before the draft last June. The Pistons bypassed Anthony with the No. 2 overall pick to take Darko Milicic. This will be their first regular-season game against the Nuggets.
"They said they were going to do one thing, and they didn't," Anthony said of the Pistons. "They said they were going to bring me in for a workout, and they didn't."
The Pistons decided well before the June 26 draft to take Milicic. A workout with Anthony was canceled June 11 after the Pistons informed his agents they would draft Milicic.
Anthony, drafted No. 3 overall, said the Pistons hurt his feelings.
"Oh, yeah," Anthony told the Rocky Mountain News. "I felt like I wasn't a good enough basketball player to fit in their program."
Anthony's time in Denver has worked out well. He has averaging 20.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. He averaged 27.1 points in February and was the Western Conference rookie of the month.
Milicic, an 18-year-old from Serbia-Montenegro, rarely plays.
Anthony said he was more in the mood for revenge when the teams met in the exhibition season, but he wants to avoid making tonight's game personal.
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Well the Pistons spanked Denver
