NBA

Nuggets no match for Nets in ‘just another game’

The Nets told some whoppers yesterday.

The game with the Nuggets that finally got Carmelo Anthony into Newark was going to be just another game.

They paid no attention to all the rumors that swirled around Anthony — and up to eight within their own ranks — for weeks.

And here was the biggest of all: They liked how they were playing at home and insisted they had a chance against Anthony and the Nuggets.

Hey, maybe it was just another game . . .

“They came out and . . . were extra motivated, knowing that their name has been in cahoots with the Denver Nuggets for the last couple of months,” Anthony said. “If I was them, I would have came out with a little extra motivation, too. They played hard tonight.”

Anthony could have been one of them but instead he might have been the fuel that lit the fire under the Nets and sent them to a stunning 115-99 victory over the Nuggets. And that was despite Anthony showing just what all the fuss is about with a 37-point explosion.

It wasn’t enough as the Nets (15-34 overall but winners of five of their last six at home) put together perhaps their finest game of the season, leading by 18 before holding off a Nuggets rally in the fourth when the margin dwindled to four.

“I thought it was just a regular game,” lied Devin Harris, who set a career high in assists for a second straight game, passing for 18 to better the 16 he rang up in Milwaukee on Saturday. “We were jacked about playing at home.”

And the Nets were jacked to play host. They put up new pictures of the progress on their arena in Brooklyn — Anthony’s home borough — placing them in the locker room corridors with flame-thrower heaters used to warm the innards of the World’s Most Frigid Arena. Then on the court, they unleashed Brook Lopez for 27 points, Travis Outlaw for 21, Anthony Morrow for 18 and Kris Humphries for 15. So all that trade talk got the Nets going. Or not.

“It was a number of things and that was probably one of them, but I don’t think it was the main thing,” said Morrow, a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor (4-of-4 on 3s). “The main thing was that we came off two tough losses. It was a crazy trade rumor so everybody was really fired up to go out and play. We really wanted it for our fans. So I don’t think it was all trade talk.”

While the Nets said — cross their hearts and hope to die — last night was just another game, Denver coach George Karl sensed there was something special.

“There’s five or six games a year that have some spice to them and this definitely has some spice to it,” Karl said.

Anthony got a mixed reception from the crowd that grew as the game progressed. A downed lightpost choked one of the main arteries into Newark, causing a nightmare traffic jam, so when the festivities began, the stands looked as empty as if it were, well, a Nets game.

Virtually to a man — and coach — the Nets said they are done with the Anthony affair and are concentrating on moving forward.

“We’ve moved on. Denver’s moved on,” coach Avery Johnson said. “We all know Carmelo Anthony’s an outstanding player. That’s why he’s been involved in so much trade talk. There are so many teams around the league that if Denver decides to do something would love to have him on their roster. For us, that’s pretty much an open and shut case.”

The talks, involving as many as 17 players, received more attention — and definitely more tweets — than the Versailles Treaty. Finally, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov declared the deal dead on Jan. 19.

Talks could start anew at any time. But it didn’t look like it was going to be happening last night when Nets execs and Denver counterparts, including owner Josh Kroenke and GM Masai Ujiri, sat at separate tables before the game.

So the Nets stuck to their story and claimed this was just another game. Then played like it was one of the biggest of their lives.

fred.kerber@nypost.com