George Karl returned to the NBA with a 106-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the team he last coached.

``I'm going to drink beer,'' Karl said. ``Beer tastes like champagne after wins like tonight.''

``You always want to win against your former team,'' Denver's Marcus Camby said. ``He didn't say publicly he wanted to beat the Bucks, but you could just tell he wanted this one real bad.''

George Karl confirmed to his current employer, ESPN, that he has agreed to become the new head coach of the Denver Nuggets.  

A formal announcement is expected at 1:30ET in Milwaukee, the scheduled site of Denver's next game. Coincidentally, it was the Milwaukee Bucks that fired Karl as their head coach prior to the 2003/04 season.

The longtime NBA coach and the Nuggets worked out most of the details of a contract Wednesday night, a source close to the team said on condition of anonymity.

George Karl is the 13th winningest head coach in league history, winning 708 games with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, and Milwaukee. Karl also coached Real Madrid of Spain for a season.

He holds a streak of at least 12 seasons with a .500 or better winning percentage, with his biggest success coming in 1996, when his Seattle Supersonics reached the NBA Finals, losing to Jordan's Bulls.

The Denver Nuggets have named George Karl head coach, team General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.  Interim Head Coach Michael Cooper will resume his previous role as assistant coach.

?We are very excited to be adding a coach of George?s stature to our organization,? said Vandeweghe. ?He has won everywhere he has been and his track record speaks for itself.

?We also want to commend Michael for the job he did under difficult circumstances.?

Karl, the 13th winningest coach in NBA history, has compiled a career record of 708-499 (.587) in 16 years as an NBA head coach.  He began his NBA head coaching career with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1984-86.  He also coached in Golden State (1986-88), Seattle (1991-98) and Milwaukee (1998-03).  

Karl?s teams have captured five division titles and have advanced to the postseason 13 times.  He guided the Sonics to more than 60 wins three times in five years (1993-98) and the NBA Finals in 1996.  He also made two other trips to the conference finals with the Sonics in 1993 and the Bucks in 2001.

In 1991-92, he inherited a Sonics club with a 20-20 record that went 27-15 the rest of the way.  The Sonics then beat Golden State in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Utah in the conference semifinals.  

Karl earned three Coach of the Year honors in the CBA (1981, ?83 and ?91), where he compiled a record of 176-66 in five years.  He also served as the head coach for Real Madrid of the Spanish League (1989-90 and 1991-January ?92).

Originally a fourth round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 1973, Karl played five professional seasons (1973-78) with the San Antonio Spurs ? the first three in the ABA and the last two in the NBA.

According to ESPN.com the Denver Nuggets and ex-Bucks coach George Karl are in negotiations to try to hammer out a coaching deal, and while no agreement has yet been reached the Nuggets are hoping to move quickly.

With Michael Cooper boasting a 4-9 record after replacing Jeff Bzdelik on December 28, GM Kiki Vandeweghe met with Karl in Chicago on Monday night before the Nuggets took on the Bulls Tuesday.  According to sources the Nuggets are after a veteran coach to toughen up an underachieving team.

Karl, currently an analyst for ESPN, has coached four NBA teams (Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle and Milwaukee) and has a career record of 708-499.

Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke did not attend Monday's meeting, sources said, but Kroenke has known Karl for years as a friend and business partner.

Dirk Nowitski missed five free throws but the Mavericks beat the Nuggets anyway, and it was Nowitski himself who helped secure the victory.  

After missing a pair of foul shots at 5:30 in the fourth with the game tied, Nowitski was also called for an offensive charging violation that erased what would have been the go-ahead basket with 49.9 seconds remaining.

But with 17.9 to go, Nowitski stepped up and converted a conventional three-point play, to put the Mavericks up for good.  Dallas won 95-93.

"Dirk is a special player," Michael Finley said. "A couple games a year you stand back and think how good it is that he's your teammate. This is one of those games. He did what it takes to win."

Nowitzki finished with 35 points and 11 rebounds.

Denver Nuggets C Marcus Camby had to be helped off the court following an ankle sprain he suffered in the first quarter of Sunday's game vs Dallas Mavericks.

The injury occurred when Camby attempted to defend a Dirk Nowitzki layup. He fell on the floor under the basket and immediately began pointing to the ankle while writhing in pain. With his arms draped around trainers, Camby put weight on the foot while going to the locker room but grimaced with each step. X-rays showed no break.

Denver went on to lose the game after Dirk Nowitzki scored nine of his 35 points in the final five minutes -- including a three-point play with 17.9 seconds -- to help the Mavericks to a 95-93 victory.

Carmelo Anthony sprained his ankle on Tuesday, stepping on the foot of Seattle's Nick Collison.  He is questionable for Friday night's game against Memphis.

``As bad as I want to play, I don't want to play because if I go out there and make any moves, anything can happen,'' Anthony said Thursday. ``It's like I'm snakebitten.''

Denver Nuggets forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili has once again asked to be traded.  Tskitishvili had asked to be traded prior to the season, but backed off his demand as the season began.

On Tuesday, he reiterated his desire to be dealt by the Feb. 24 deadline.

"That's what I wish for," Tskitishvili said before the Nuggets faced Seattle at Key Arena. "I want to go to a team where I can play and they also say they're going to use me next year."

Tskitishvili has barely played this season, entering Tuesday having appeared in only 16 games while averaging 1.7 points. He was optimistic about getting a lengthy stint Monday night at Golden State, but that didn't happen.

The Nuggets were without three post players, leaving Kenyon Martin and Tskitishvili as the only two left. But Tskitishvili still played only 10 minutes, going scoreless.

"I was expecting more playing time," Tskitishvili said. "I guess I made some mistakes and coach doesn't like mistakes."

Early Boykins single-handedly beat the Seattle Supersonics Tuesday night scoring 15 of Denver?s 21 overtime points and breaking the overtime scoring record of 14 set in 1984 by Butch Carter.

At 5-foot-5, Boykins is the NBA?s smallest player.  His lack of size did not seem to matter last night as he drove through, shot over,  and posted the Sonics up, using any method he wanted  to score, seemingly scoring at will.

In overtime, Boykins took charge quickly. With 20 seconds gone, he scored on a 10-footer and then hit a 15-footer on a fast break with 3:49 left to put Denver ahead 99-95.  After Boykins first two daggers, the Sonics could not recover.

If there was any doubt about who the Warriors? best player and leader was, there shouldn?t be now. In the last five games with Jason Richardson in the lineup, the Warriors have won. In the nine without him, they lost. That?s the definition of valuable.

In his first game back after the ankle injury, Richardson scored a career-high 42 points to go along with eight assists and superb defense in a win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday ? on national television.

Perhaps the biggest compliment anyone could give about Richardson?s performance was by Nuggets coach Michael Cooper, one of the greatest defenders to ever play.

?I think in my prime it would have been difficult to stop that young man tonight,'' Cooper said after the game.

One game certainly doesn?t solve the Warriors? problems. After all they are 12-27 and going nowhere this season. Any realistic person would know that they have no chance at the playoffs this year. They looked pathetic during the losing streak and barely managed to stay competitive.