The Answer may have been bothered by his right ring finger again however at the end of the day, they could smile and be happy afterall.

The EIGHT and FINAL playoff spot is theirs for the meantime after beating Golden State 119-112 Saturday night at the Pepsi Center.

Iverson’s 4-for-20 performance hardly mattered thanks to Kenyon Martin , who scored a season-high 30 points, leading the Denver Nuggets past the Warriors in the wild, wild Western Conference playoff race.

”I got hit on it early in the game, and it just bothered me throughout,” Iverson said. ”I hope my teammates don’t think I was out there point-shaving or something.”

The Nuggets moved a-half game ahead of the Warriors for the final playoff spot and pulled within a half-game of sliding Dallas for seventh place. The Mavericks visit the Warriors on Sunday night.

”That’s when everybody else has to step up,” point guard Anthony Carter said when Carmelo Anthony , who hit 11-of-16 shots for 25 points, and a trio of reserves whose third-quarter play keyed the victory: J.R. Smith (20 points, seven assists), Eduardo Najera (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Linas Kleiza (8 points) carried the team behind AI’s poor-shooting performance.

”After the game was over, I felt like I had a great shooting night,” he said. ”Just for the fact we won.”

If the playoffs would have started today, the Nuggets could be battling the Hornets with the Warriors taking an early exit.

Spurs will take on the Mavs, Lakers against the Suns and Utah versus Houston.