Denver ? Carmelo Anthony downplayed Denver coach George Karl’s decision to bench him for the last 18 minutes against Phoenix on Sunday.

Anthony sat out the final 17:45 of Denver’s 106-101 loss as the Suns’ snapped the Nuggets’ eight-game winning streak.

“I watched the film just now and still couldn’t pinpoint it,” Anthony said Monday after a brief practice. “It’s not a big deal. Just because this happened last night doesn’t mean that something has been going on between me and coach Karl.”

Karl said Anthony’s play didn’t influence his decision.

“For me, at the five-minute mark of the third quarter, I didn’t know how to win a game,” Karl said. “Then, when I got a team out there that showed me they could win a game, I decided to stay with them.

“It was probably more their good play than Carmelo’s average play that caused me to stay with the crew that was on the court.”