The Nuggets went 18-7 down the stretch after the megatrade of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks. Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri would like to build off that momentum.

"We're going to try to keep the core together and build from here," he said. "That's the goal."

Asked specifically about Aaron Afflalo, an off guard who averaged 12.6 points per game in a breakout season, Ujiri said there's "no question" he will be a Nugget for years to come.

Kenyon Martin, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, said that playing for a winner was more important than finding a starting role.

"At this point in my career, I think winning and being part of a winning team is more important than starting," Martin said.

Martin was asked if the Nuggets could fit that role of a winning franchise.

"Winning? Yeah," he said after the players cleaned out their lockers at Pepsi Center. "But we'll see (about signing)."

Martin said there wasn't an offer "on the table right now."

"The season just ended, it's still fresh," he said. "We'll play it as it lies."

Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said it was possible Martin would be re-signed. Still, it's early in the process.

The Knicks would have to get lucky, but one of their targets this summer is to bring Wilson Chandler back into the fold, The Post has learned.

Chandler, who was dispatched to Denver in the Carmelo Anthony trade, will be a restricted free agent, and a source said he would love to return to the Knicks. And the Knicks would love to have him back, as coach Mike D'Antoni believes he's the perfect versatile fit for his system who does so many things, including rebound. Chandler's Nuggets trail Oklahoma City 3-1 in the first round.

Chandler's new agent is Happy Walters, who also represents Amar'e Stoudemire and Knicks surprise reserve standout Shawne Williams, also a free agent whom the Knicks would like to bring back.

In two games versus Oklahoma City, Nene is shooting 72 percent on layups and dunks. Outside of the paint, Nene has hit just 3-of-8 jump shots, including 0-for-4 in Game 2. (He was 12-of-18 from the free-throw line in Game 2).

"One thing about him is he's an aggressive player," Perkins said. "I think we've just got to do a better job on our pick-and-roll defense as far as when he's rolling to the basket. But we're going to keep being physical with him, we're going to keep playing him hard.

"We want him taking contested jump shots. He's averaging over 60 percent when he's in the paint and right at 40 percent outside the paint. So that's what we'll try to do."

Nuggets guard J.R. Smith said there's a "strong possibility" he won't sign with the Nuggets this summer as a free agent, expressing frustration Thursday after the Nuggets went down 0-2 against Oklahoma City in the playoffs.

"There's a strong possibility as of right now," Smith said. "It's not going the way I planned it to go. It's a tough situation. I want to be here, I love the fans and everything about the city. It's just maybe not my fit."

The Nuggets had a team meeting on Thursday and Smith said the team didn't have "a pulse" as they regrouped at Pepsi Center.

"Just frustration, just really didn't have any life in there," Smith said. "No one was really into it."

Nuggets guard Aaron Afflalo said he would play in Game 3 versus Oklahoma City.

"Yeah," Afflalo said. "You can write that one up."

Afflalo, who averaged 12.6 points this season, is one of the Nuggets' better defensive players. He has aggravated his left hamstring numerous times in the past two months, admitting that he has come back too soon from rehabbing the strain.

"I can get out on the court; that's not the issue. The issue is letting it heal so I don't have to get off the court," Afflalo said. "If it's not healed, if you make the wrong move, you're back to square one. I just didn't want that to happen now."

But now, with the season on the line, Afflalo feels it's necessary to give playing a shot.

"This ain't about me coming back to save the day, either," he said. "I'm going to get out there and ride with them. That's as much watching as I'm going to do for the rest of this season. . . . I'm just going to create a positive atmosphere for guys on the court."

• Oklahoma City Thunder 106, Denver Nuggets 89

The Thunder joined the Heat, Celtics, Mavericks and Bulls in the up two games to nil column with a convincing, well-balanced victory over Denver.

Denver adjusted onto Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook following their Game 1 explosion, but the Thunder countered with strong offensive performances from Serge Ibaka, James Harden and Nick Collison.

The 54-31 rebounding differential was also huge for Oklahoma City, as they scored 24 second-chance points compared to just 10 for Denver.

The Nuggets just can’t effectively go small and quick against the Thunder and is why this was probably the worst possible matchup for them in the first round.

• San Antonio Spurs 93, Memphis Grizzlies 87

We knew Marc Gasol would regress to the mean and that the Spurs would have a better solution for defending Zach Randolph, but Gregg Popovich still needed Manu Ginobili’s return to prevent the series falling apart into an 0-2 deficit. 

Ginobili was a modest 5-for-13 from the floor, but his ability to get to the line 13 times was a big factor for the Spurs. Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Richard Jefferson and George Hill all scored 16 or 17 points apiece.

• Los Angeles Lakers 87, New Orleans Hornets 78

Even though Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combined for just 19 points, the Lakers made significant adjustments to their defense to slow down Chris Paul.

The Hornets committed 16 turnovers one game after limiting themselves to three and the Lakers converted those into 22 points.

The Lakers also dominated the points in the pain battle, outscoring New Orleans by a margin of 50-32.

Kenyon Martin was outspoken about the Nuggets’ defense on Kevin Durant, who scored 41 points in Game 1.

“Make him (pass it to) some one else. If you have him and Westbrook on the court the same time, make Thabo Sefolosha and Serge Ibaka make plays. Run somebody at these guys. I don’t agree with (one-on-one) – we don’t let Kobe play one-on-one when we play him, no matter where he is on the court, so why would you let Kevin Durant play one-on-one.”

Martin believes that Denver’s small guards should not be the ones defending Durant.

“He shot right over Ray (Felton) like there was nobody guarding him,” Martin elaborated on Monday. “It doesn’t matter who you are, even if you’re the toughest defender in the world, (if you’re 6-1), he’s going to shoot right over him. You got to try something different, run somebody at him. Pick-and-roll? Jump on him. For three games, he’s been having his way with us – and I’m not comfortable with it.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder learned its lesson on how not to guard Nuggets center Nene on Sunday night.

“I think we really look at it as our team needs to do a better job on stopping his easy catches,” said Brooks after Thunder’s practice today. “He was getting in transition. I thought he had three or four buckets in transition, and that’s not on Perk, that’s on our team’s defensive transition scheme.”

Brooks wants his troops to be more physical with the Nuggets’ big man.

“We just have to push him off his spot,” Brooks said. “He had a lot of points around the basket. We all know that’s what he does very well. He leads the league in percentage and he’s not taking 19-footers to get that percentage. He’s a great scorer around the rim and we have to push him off of that area that he’s comfortable at, which is not easy to do. He’s a man down there, he’s strong. We have to fight him better. I feel that we have to do a much better job of that.”

The second day of the 2011 NBA Playoffs provided four tightly contested games and nearly four road upsets.

• Memphis Grizzlies 101, San Antonio Spurs 98

The Spurs limited Memphis on the offensive glass, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich surely didn’t se a 9-for-10 from Marc Gasol coming. They probably also didn’t foresee Memphis going 6-for-10 from distance with O.J. Mayo posting a 3-for-4 and Shane Battier with a 2-for-2 and the dagger.

I expect the Spurs to emphasize the transition game a little bit more in Game 2 and also move the ball better as 13 assists for this team is unacceptable.

Memphis did an excellent job in controlling pace and San Antonio’s 47 attempts from the line played a part in that.

• New Orleans Hornets 109, Los Angeles Lakers 100

We can throw away the Phil Jackson has never lost a series after winning the first game storyline and I think we’re all the better for it.

Looking at the Hornets in preparation for this series, it shocked me that a Chris Paul team could be as inefficient on offense as they were over the regular season. But Chris Paul wasn’t always the Chris Paul we saw in Game 1. He had the expected 14 assists, but he also scored 33 points on 18 shots and turned the ball over just twice. Paul was scoring with the ease of an MVP and his assists were creating easy buckets at the rim.

As a team, the Hornets also had just three turnovers compared to 13 for the Lakers.

The advantage the Lakers hold over everyone, especially the Hornets, is in the frontcourt. While Andrew Bynum looked healthy and was productive, Pau Gasol was a no-show offensively.

A loss for a team like the Lakers sometimes is worth more than a win and this one could shock them into winning the next four.

• Boston Celtics 87, New York Knicks 85 

A 67.8 TS% Game 1 for Amar’e Stoudemire versus a just 38.0 TS% for Carmelo Anthony and New York had to go away from Stoudemire down the stretch. This helps explain why the Knicks had a tale of two offenses in their playoff debut together that they controlled for a large stretch of it. The part 

Beyond Ray Allen’s game-winner and team-high 24 points, the Celtics received fairly typical balance across the board. The other members of the Big 4 were largely inefficient, but were picked up by having a large impact with his 12 points on six shots, four boards and four blocks.

• Oklahoma City Thunder 107, Denver Nuggets 103

The Thunder have two superduperstars (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined to score 72 points) and the Nuggets have a nice collection of well above average scorers.

Eight of Denver’s nine players had at least eight points. Nene was the main man, scoring a very efficient 22 points on 11 shots.

The Nuggets had plenty of opportunities to win this one and will look to the no-call on the offensive interference and their inability to hit efficiently from the line (21-for-33) and from distance (4-for-16) as the main culprits.