Battered Hornets Beat the Battered Nuggets 99-89

This was yet another game between two teams devastated by injuries (and suspensions in the case of the Nuggets) but this time A.I. fell well below his career scoring accuracy and Boykins and the second teamers were not enough to produce a win against the Hornets. The Camby injury has made the suspension situation twice as bad because the Nuggets have only one "defensive specialist" and Camby is it. One minus one equals zero.

After both second teams produced an entertaining first half, the second half became very bleak, with neither team able to score in the 3rd and only the Hornets able to score in the 4th. After leading 81-76, Denver scored just eight points in the final 9 1/2 minutes. They were out of gas, out of talent, and out of players. The grinch (David Stern) had left them with nothing.

Here was the Hornet's injury toll going into tonight's game:

Chris Paul, PG Sprained right ankle - out 1 week
Bobby Jackson, PG Cracked left rib - out 2-3 weeks
Peja Stojakovic, GF Lower back surgery
David West, PF Arthroscopic surgery, right elbow

These four have provided over 70% of the Hornets scoring so far this season and none of them could play, so this is total devastation.

The Nuggets are now 3-2 in suspension games, and I am reasonably sure they would have been 4-1 over this easy schedule stretch had there not been any suspensions, so tonight was the first "suspension loss". Had the suspensions been kept to a reasonable limit of 5 games, they would now be over, and the Nuggets would have escaped with a one game penalty.

But as we all know, the suspensions are going to drag on for 5 more games (J.R. Smith) and 10 more games (Melo). Am I worried that Iverson is going to go into a slump and cause alot of additional suspension losses? Absolutely not, all players of all skill levels have games when they are that 2 or 3 inches off and so they miss a bunch of shots they usually make. And more often than not, a star player will have this type of game playing a back to back night on the road, which is what this was.

Most of these suspension games have featured one of the second teamers besides Boykins going all out to try to help the team and to try to make an impression. Tonight it was swingman's DerMarr Johnson's turn to try to do the impossible. On 28 minutes, he was 4/13, and 2/7 on 3's for 10 points, and he had 6 rebounds.

On the other hand, swingman Yakhouba Diawara finally figured this situation out and refrained from taking bad shots, and had a decent, very balanced game as a result. He was 5/11, and 2/7 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 14 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, and his ball handling and defense were not lacking as in most of the other suspension games.

Najera and Evans each had 10 rebounds. Johnson and Sampson had 6 boards each and Kleiza had 5. Not having a dominant rebounder is frequently a sign of a pourous inside defense. (It will probably get very ugly on Sunday night against the Mavericks if Camby is not back by then.)

With Melo out, the Nuggets do not have a forward on the roster who can put up points, thus the Nuggets are currently totally dependent on the Iverson-Boykins duo for the points needed to win suspension games. Tonight, Evans was 4/8, Najera was 3/8, and Sampson did not even put a shot up.

Najera this year is averaging just 2.9 made field goals per game on just 4.9 attempts per game, well below par for a starting forward. He has failed to rise to the challenge of the loss of K-Mart for the season. And with Camby/Melo/J.R. out, it is his responsibility to step up, but it is not happening.

Boykins, who I now think of as Iverson #2, is as dependable these days as a timex watch, but he can only do so much with his 5'5" frame. He was 10/22, 2/7 on 3's, and 4/5 from the line for 26 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. It now seems obvious that he does not have an extra gear that he can shift into in a problem situation like this game, so that he all of a sudden goes to the hoop more and takes more shots in general. The Iverson high gears were not available this game.

The Nuggets achieved no flow at all, but how can you achieve any flow to the game if every new squad on the floor has almost never been seen before? It's not just Iverson, but also Boykins who is unfamiliar with these squads. Where is Diawara going to cut to? Is Evans going to box out his man? Is DerMarr Johnson going to put up a three or cut to the basket? Is Najera finally going to take an open shot when he should? No one knows the answers; there are no obvious or easy plays to be run on a devastated team. Every play is a new adventure.

A.I. was 6/22, and 0/2 on 3's and 9/10 on threes for 21 points, and he added 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and a block. His veteran wisdom was there even on a bad night; he was smart enough not to take 30 shots when he knew he wasn't "feeling it". The inexperienced version of Iverson would have ended up roughly 9/30 and the Nuggets would have been routed. Iverson knows when it's best to pull back and live to fight another day.

The next game will be against the top team in the League right now, the Mavericks, on New Year's Eve back in Denver (Sunday night) at 7 pm mountain time.

Had the suspensions been over as they should have been, the Mavs game could have been one of those great basketball classics. As it is, if Camby is still out, it could be very very ugly, unless A.I. gets the magic touch at home again. Hopefully, he will draw energy and performance from a crowd that will want to forget the snowstorms and to enjoy being sick with Nuggets fever.

A.I. Near Perfect as Nuggets Wear Down Sonics 112-98

There is this old Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk and the Enterprise discover this massive planet eater drifting through space. I'm beginning to think that when Melo and J.R. and Camby return, the Nuggets will become a "team eater," wearing out and demoralizing their opponents to the point of self destruction or surrender. This is what happened to the Sonics tonight. Opposing coaches will say when they see the Nuggets "My god, who created this monster?" The monster was created by the Nugget's owner, the Denver front office, Melo becoming a superstar, Camby, Boykins, and several others playing their guts out, and Allen Iverson wanting to win a Ring more than anything in his life and being one of the best basketball players of all time.

Oh, and we may have gotten an assist from David Stern. David Stern, with his massive suspensions to Melo and J.R., may have put just enough fire under the behinds of the Nuggets front office to seal the Iverson trade before the Celtics or Wolves or somebody else could get their hands on him. So it is possible, though not probable, that Iverson might have gone elsewhere were it not for the suspensions. The Nuggets ended their stubborn resistance to parting with Andre Miller after those historic mega suspensions came down and then the historic deal was done.

Aside from that, it also seems that someone (it wasn't me, I swear) put a really nasty spell on many of the teams that are playing the Nuggets during the long suspensions and the Camby injury. First the Wizards were exhausted from a double overtime on the road the night before. Then the Celtics were without their top two scorers, as well as all their other big veterans. The Suns had all their guys, but they were sent packing because the game was cancelled from the blizzard. That game has now been scheduled for when all Nuggets except K-Mart are supposed to be back from various injuries and suspensions. And it goes on. The next game is at Oklahoma, and that team has recently been totally devastated by injuries. It's getting really creepy.

Tonight the Sonics were without their top two scorers. Strong forward Rashard Lewis (22 ppg) is out 2-3 months with a torn tendon in his right hand. And shooting guard Ray Allen (25 ppg) did not travel to Denver because his fiance had a baby on Wednesday. Center Chris Wilcox was so disgusted with the whole chain of events that he was double t'd and ejected near the end of the third quarter. The Sonics lost their fight after that.

But the Sonics played extremely tight b-ball in the first half, taking everything the loose Nuggets defense gave them, and making the Nuggets pay for a bunch of sloppy turnovers. But in the second half, they could not defend the Answer, who produced one of the best games of his career, an almost perfect display of basketball skill and will to win. The home crowd understandably went crazy, and the Sonics gradually wore out and lost their confidence that they could beat this monster.

Jamal Sampson, a C-F who has had almost no playing time until tonight, played 17 minutes and picked up 9 boards in that short time.

Reggie Evans had 18 rebounds, and Najera just 4, as the Nuggets totally dominated the boards all game long. Evans, who likes to go to the hoop, made 5 of his 6 free throws tonight and finished with 9 points. Najera was 4/4, and 1/1 on 3's for 9 points, and he had 3 assists and the 4 rebounds.

DerMarr Johnson played 29 minutes and he was 3/9 and 1/4 on 3's for 7 points. Other than 7 rebounds, Kleiza's night was a disaster, and he had to be pulled from the game early with 5 fouls and 5 turnovers.

With Nene out again due to the knee, George Karl has essentially run out of players. As a result, Diawara got massive playing time, 38 minutes. He was 2/8, 0/4 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 8 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Diawara showed some signs in late November and the first week of December but all the crazy stuff that's happened to the Nuggets recently and his being a starter too soon has taken a big toll on Diawara's game. Obviously, Karl thinks Diawara's game will return when things start to get back to normal, judging from the huge minutes Diawara had.

Many Iverson critics over the years have claimed that A.I. either can not or does not want to play the point. He always could play it, the relevant question was and is whether he wants to play it. And for the Nuggets, he clearly does want to play it. He had 10 of the Nuggets 16 assists.

In games similar to this one earlier this season, with a 10-12 point lead early in the 4th, the Nuggets would frequently have a bunch of turnovers and get torched to the point where they would lose the game. But with Iverson at the helm, there was no way that could happen. Iverson, with an assist from Boykins, broke the spirit of the Sonics, starting with the Wilcox ejection, to the point where the Sonics gave up.

The guy is playing his heart out just because he's happy. Specifically, he's happy to be playing for a team that has more wins than losses (16-10 now), and for a team that has a 10 point lead at the start of the 4th, instead of being 10 behind as was often the case in Philadelphia. It's like 1999-2000 all over again; Iverson is having dream games because he knows that there is a real possibility that this team can land in the finals. A.I. himself said recently that he feels as if he has been reborn.

So our new team captain was 17/29, 1/2 on 3's and 9/12 from the line for 44 points. To go with the 10 assists, he had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Earl Boykins has almost become Iverson #2, an even shorter and more improbable version of basketball will to win than Iverson himself. They are almost like soul mates who think and play in a very similar way, though Boykins is ultimately limited by being only 5'5" tall. In just 3 games, Iverson may have found his favorite run and gun partner of his whole career. Boykins was a superb 9/17, 1/2 on 3's and 5/6 from the line for 24 points. He played 31 minutes while A.I. played almost the whole game.

The next game is tomorrow night, (Friday, Dec. 29) in Oklahoma to play the Hornets at 6 pm mountain time.

A.I. Guides Nuggets Past Celtics 116-105

The Celtics were every bit as disadvantaged as the Nuggets were, being devastated with injuries. Swingmen Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak, every bit as important to the Celtics as Melo and J.R. are to the Nuggets, were both out with injuries. The newest injury was to Szczerbiak (right ankle). Pierce is expected to be out 2-3 weeks with a foot injury. Along with these two, most of the Celtic's other veterans are out with injuries as well (Theo Ratliff, Michael Olowokandi, and Kendrick Perkins). The Celtics were left with only rookies and players in their second and third years. They were little more than a warmed over college team.

The Nuggets are also devastated right now, in their case due to two factors. There are the injuries to Camby (broken finger) and, of course, K-Mart, who is out for the year after knee surgery, with many fearing his career is over. And, thanks to the Huge, By Far The Biggest Of All Time David Stern Suspensions, handed out to Melo and J.R. Smith, the Nuggets roster was at least as devasted as that of the Celtics.

So the stage was set for a match up of the lineups from the twilight zone, featuring alot of players who are trying to earn playing time in the future who suddenly had alot of playing time right now. Except that the Nuggets had the crafty old veterans Najera and Boykins to take advantage of the Celtic's inexperience. And they had that guy who moved 1,600 miles so that he might not feel the burden of winning every game himself, yet still be in the running for a Championship. A guy who thinks he deserves to play without a superman suit on from now on, now that he is a respected 10-year veteran.

Of course, I suppose Iverson reserves the right in theory to "take over a game" if he thinks the conditions are right. There will be a few 4th quarters where we will see Iverson playing like superman, especially in the playoffs. Tonight, although Iverson wasn't going to allow the crippled Nuggets to lose to the crippled Celtics, he correctly sensed he did not need to take 30 shots to insure the win. He relied on his new second-team teammates, ran things with his 13 assists, and managed the win without unnecessary drama, exactly like the 10-year veteran who got tired of playing superman that he is.

Iverson's critics never thought that he would become one of the wisest veterans in the game, did they? And it looks like everyone who prediced that Melo and A.I. would "not get along" are going to have to try to forget they made that goofy prediction.

The forwards finally got some points tonight! Najera had points, for a change, to go with his 11 rebounds: 6/12, and 4/5 from the line for 16 points. And Nene had points, for a change, to go with the 14 rebounds he had: 5/11, and 2/4 from the line for 12 points. And Evans, who has already been getting points along with his rebounding, but only in limited playing time, got a whopping 30 minutes tonight and, sure enough, he got more points: he was 5/10, and 4/8 from the line, for 14 points, which went nicely with his 14 rebounds and 2 steals. For a while there, I was worried that Evans, who wants to go to the hole more often than not, and who is becoming a rebounding machine, might not be able to make even half his free throws, but he did get half of them tonight so I'm gonna say Evans played extremely well.

Diawara, whose game against the Kings on Friday was so bad that it apparently scared him into not taking hardly any shots in this game, was 1/2, getting a long-ranger, and picked up 5 rebounds. Like all rookies put into confusing starting roles by the thundering rulings of the League Commissioner, he ended up on last Friday trying to play outside his current level. Hopefully, tonight's game shows that he has gone back to the drawing board and will now try to stick to "playing within himself," instead of trying to do miracles, during the remainder of the marathon suspensions.

DerMarr Johnson played just 21 minutes and could not hit on any of four 3-point attempts. Not counting the shots from downtown, he was 3/7 for 6 points and he had 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

The sheer energy of Boykins continued to impress A.I., and he fed the little guy several times rather than take the shot himself. The dynamic duo had 56 points, exceeding the Melo/J.R. dynamic duo average. Boykins was 8/19 from the field, a huge 4/5 from downtown, and 8/8 from the line. He added 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal. The Nuggets are 19th in the league from the line, so anyone who goes 8/8 earns respect just for that. But what about those 3's from the little guy? A.I was impressed, and since he was running things, that's all that mattered.

Iverson was 9/22 from the field, 1/2 from 3-point land, and 9/13 from the line for his 28 points, and he added the 13 assists, 4 steals, and 2 rebounds.

The next game will be Thursday Dec. 28 at home at 8:30 pm mountain time against Seattle.

Iverson Arrives But Kings Get Ugly Win Over Nuggets, 101-96

The up and down rollercoaster of the historic pre-Christmas week for Denver came to an ugly end on Friday evening as the Nuggets were left without a single one of the starters they started the season with and lost to the Kings in an ugly game 101-96. Sacramento was .442 from the field and they had an ugly 20 turnovers. Bibby's slump continued. The Kings didn't need much to win.

The Nuggets actually lost the game on the free throw line. They were a very poor 17/31 on free throws. Evans was only 6/13 and Iverson was only 2/6 from the line.

Allen Iverson came in with 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter and played the entire rest of the game. His 10 assists and reluctance to "take over the game" despite the opportunity to do so may be a clue that he neither wants nor expects the burden of winning games by himself for the Nuggets. It was that burden on the Sixers that led to his leaving Philadelphia. The cautious Iverson didn't shift to one of his higher gears, thus leaving the result of the game in the hands of the second team, and they failed to take a winnable game. The home crowd, suffering from a new condition called "Nuggets fever," would have preferred that Iverson had been a total ball hog if this had produced a win, as it probably would have.

Judging from tonight's Nugget's performance, Iverson moved 1,600 miles west only to be, thanks to Mr. Stern and the K-Mart/Camby injuries, temporarily in the same or worse situation he left in Philadelphia, on a team where a win is about as likely as a blizzard that closes the airport for almost two days. Camby was out with a fractured finger he got during his great game against the Wizards. So it was "Iverson and the Benchers against the Kings" tonight in a game that might have been kind of like a strange movie if it hadn't been so ugly.

The Nuggets followed their uptempo playing style and had plenty of opportunities; the ball just would not go in for anyone except Iverson. The Nuggets were literally trying to steal the game while being massively shorthanded. They had 11 steals, though Iverson, one of the all-time greatest pick-pockets, had no steals tonight. Boykins had 4 steals, Reggie Evans 3, and Nene 2.

Although Nene had just 8 points in 30 minutes, he did have 15 rebounds, the 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes, was 2/4 from the field, but only 6/13 from the line for 10 points, and he had 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Evans has been drawing alot of fouls all season, but missing alot of throws. Kleiza in 25 minutes was just 2/10 from the field, 1/5 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 7 rebounds.

Najera fouled out with about 5 minutes left in the game, and Nene and Diawara were also in foul trouble as the Denver D continued to draw more fouls than praises. Maybe Camby, otherwise known as "Denver's D," can run a clinic to try to teach pressure defending without fouling. Najera (27 minutes) was 3/7, and 0/1 on 3's for 6 points, and he had 5 rebounds.

If games were always won by whoever expends the most calories, the Nuggets would have won this game. Boykins was all over the place, trying to follow up his big Wizards-killing game on Monday with another rabbit out of the hat win tonight. Even Iverson was amazed at the speed and hustle of Boykins, and wagered it might be best not to get too much in his way. Boykins was 8/23 from the field, 2/7 from 3-point land, and 7/8 from the line for 25 points, 4 less than against the Wizards. He had 9 assists, a huge 4 steals, and 3 rebounds.

Coach Karl's policy on DerMarr Johnson is that he wouldn't get playing time unless hell froze over, but since hell did freeze over during the blizzard, Johnson got 21 minutes and was a respectable 5/11 from the field, and 2/7 on 3's, for 12 points. Johnson did NOT play the klutz defense that many of the Nuggets played tonight, he had 2 blocks and zero fouls. Hopefully hell will freeze over a few more times this season.

The rookie Diawara has been very inconsistent all season; he's had some nice games on short minutes, but a few real dogs. This could have been a breakout game but it wasn't to be as he was a nightmare 3/15 from the field, 0/7 on 3's and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he had 4 rebounds. What do you expect when a rookie from France gets a high pressure start due to the Knicks/Stern fiasco. Diawara won't always play like this, but it was way too much to ask him to be some miracle 3-point, defensive specialist rookie. The Nuggets will remain almost totally dependent on J.R. Smith for 3-point shooting.

Iverson started with 3 minutes left in the first quarter and started hitting shots right away. His first two shots as a Nugget:

A. Iverson made a 14-foot fade away jumper in the lane
A. Iverson made a 7-foot jumper in the lane. Assist: R. Evans

Iverson hit on two straight 3-pointers and a jumper in the space of 1 minute late in the 3rd quarter keeping the crowd fired up and giving Denver a 71-69 lead. Iverson was 9/15 from the field, 2/3 on 3's, and 2/6 from the line for 22 points, and he added 10 assists.

The Nugget's 4th quarter was weak, with alot of missed shots and some more missed free throws. Abdur-Raheem had two key blocks in the quarter. Nobody, including Iverson, had the touch in the 4th, so it became impossible to win. The Kings coasted to an easy win.

The next game will be Tuesday December 26 in Denver against the Celtics at 7 pm mountain time.

The Quest For The Ring Continues On: Nuggets 117-108

Let me tell you a little bit about my team. It has alot of talent and alot of heart, even more than I thought.

It has a player who is only 5'5" tall who had 7 rebounds and 29 points in tonight's game.

It has a star center who has proven that he is a total leader on and off the court and who had 17 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 25 points.

It has a point guard who shakes off all trouble and achieves whatever is necessary for a win.

It has a coach not afraid of David Stern or Isaiah Thomas or anyone else when he tells everyone why they are wrong.

It has a whole crew of "benchers" who proved they would be starters if the league had more teams, and who played their guts out tonight to get a win almost no one thought they could get.

And it has two very young and extremely talented scoring machines who have been wronged by a system that does not work and that does not make sense. They could only watch as their team, and my team, earned a win through sheer effort and will against one of the hottest teams in the league, a team that was 8-2 in the last 10 games. They will be watching, and waiting, as their team, and my team, seeks to overcome the failure of the league, to defy the predictions that they are history, and to move forward in the quest for the Ring.

My team is a team that the league can slow down, but you can not stop my team. It will rise up and overcome all things. My team is powerful. In time, I believe my team will win the quest for the Ring.

Denver Cruises Over Very Frustrated Knicks 123-100

This is just going to review the game and will not go into the brawl at the very end of this game. I am going to post a topic on the brawl tomorrow because of the importance of any suspensions that are certainly coming to my team.

The Nuggets were firing on all cylinders tonight and the overmatched Knicks tried their guts out to keep up but simply ran into the freight train that the Nugget offense was tonight. There was no way a team that has been damaged by injuries to key players, a series of poor roster moves, and having the wrong coach at the wrong time (Larry Brown, not Isaiah) could possibly keep up with the freight train. The Nuggets are vulnerable only to teams that can take advantage of their low pressure and sometimes klutzy defence, teams that can nail a bunch of 3's, that can run fast breaks off turnovers well, and that can get at least very close to .500 from the field. The Knicks are not such a team until they rebuild and stay healthy.

True, the Knicks did beat the Nuggets in Denver, but it was a fluke: the way the Knicks won that game could best be described as very strange. A 12-point 4th quarter Knick deficit was turned around in less than a quarter and then there had to be a steal and a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Knicks to win in regulation. Kenyon Martin was out for the first time so the Nuggets had to learn a whole new playing style instantly, which is impossible. Najera, who came in for K-Mart, could not be more different a forward than K-Mart. Jamel Crawford, who had 20 points in the quarter, stole the ball from Najera and sunk the 3 at the buzzer. That's a fluke game if there ever was one.

I am going to discuss this game in greater detail in the thread I am going to start regarding the brawl and the suspensions because this first game in Denver was one of the reasons the brawl happened.

Returning to tonight's game, the Nuggets were a scorching 45/79 from the field or .570. Every Nugget who played had either a good or a great night on the scoreboard except for, you guessed it, Najera. The Knicks had one of those "even the tip-ins won't go in" nights and were just .432 from the field.

Camby got his old team even more frustrated than they would have been from just the scoreboard. He had a dream game for a center: 9/11 from the field and 6/6 from the line for 24 points. And what really steamed the Knicks was his 7 blocks (and Nene added 2 more). Camby also had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.

Coach Karl gave Reggie Evans some minutes tonight (17) and he responded as usual: 3/4 from the field and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 9 rebounds in the 17 minutes. Earth to Karl: always give Reggie Evans at least 17 minutes.

Najera was the only Nugget who had a bad night, just 4 free throws and zero rebounds in 23 minutes. Diawara off the bench was cut way back to 11 minutes after his brick game against the Celtics, so naturally he had a great game against the Knicks, 2/2 from 3-point land for 6 points, and he had 2 assists and a rebound.

Andre Miller is out of a short slump he was in and was a solid 5/9 from the field and 2/2 from the line for 12 points. More impressive still, he had a big 10 assists, an unusual 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Boykins was a dependable 4/9, and 2/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 12 points.

J.R. Smith must have read my post from last night on Justbball (or else Coach had some spare time from the Iverson mess) because he expanded his game big time from just shooting 3's. Unfortunately, he annoyed the hell out of Mardy Collins, whose flagrant on Smith with a minute and change left in the game, with Smith on a breakaway dunk, ignited the scuffle. Before he was neck tackled in mid-air, Smith was 4/7 from the field, 2/4 from downtown, and 3/4 from the line for 13 points, and he had 3 assists and even 3 rebounds.

Melo had just 11 points in the first half, but 34 for the game on 15/29 from the field, 0/1 on 3's and 4/5 from the line, and he added 7 rebounds and 4 assists. We now have a league where the top scorer, Melo, is about to be suspended and the number 2 scorer, Iverson, is already suspended (by the 76ers). Jeesh.

The next game, if there is one, is back in Denver against the Washington Wizards on Monday night against the Wizards. Oh great, we got buried by the Wizards the other night with our starters and now we have to play them with our benchers. Life can be so damn unfair sometimes. Game time is 7 pm mountain time.

Defenseless Denver Fails to Catch Celtics 119-114

I am a fan of fast, offensive-minded b-ball, and I don't like the style of a Larry Brown, who cares mostly about defence, but these Nuggets are becoming too hard to take for even me. Despite firing on all cylinders offensively, at least in the second half, the defenceless Nuggets could not catch up to the Boston Celtics tonight and lost 119-114. The lack of defence has been especially obvious in the first quarters of this road trip, where the Nuggets have been outscored 140-90. That's 35 points per 1st quarter, ouch.

I think it is getting to the point where top scorers in the league, such as Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce, circle their calendars for when the Nuggets are on their schedule to remind themselves to put up about 10 more shots than usual. And the opposing coaches instruct their team to fire 3's at will, to put up more perimeter shots than usual, and to aggressively go to the hoop against anyone except Camby. The Celtics were a blazing .560 from the field and 10/25 (.400) from 3-point land tonight. At least the Nuggets cut back on another problem; they had just 7 turnovers.

J.R. Smith seemed to have disappeared into thin air until the 4th quarter, when he finally hit on some 3's. He was 4/11, and 4/10 on 3's, and 3/5 from the line for 15 points. Would someone (perhaps George Karl if he has any spare time away from dealing with the 76er's-Iverson meltdown) please inform J.R. that it is alright to take some closer shots on occasion, and that it isn't against NBA rules to go to the hoop? Just wishing.

Andre Miller, who had a real brick of a game two nights ago in D.C., finally came alive in the second half of this game; He finished 9/17, and 0/1 on 3's for 18 points, and he had 6 assists. The Nuggets, with 26 assists and especially the Celtics, with 33 assists, moved the ball well tonight; there was a fast and fluid flow to this game which made it fun to watch.

George Karl is not sold on Reggie Evans and tonight Evans played for just 5 minutes. Unless Evans was sick or hurting, Karl has some explaining to do on that. Najera played for 21 minutes but, as usual, he didn't take hardly any shots and he had a modest 4 rebounds. Camby had 7 rebounds, Melo had 6, and Nene Hilario had 5 rebounds.

Earl Boykins, who is probably Karl's favorite bench player, was given 28 minutes, and he was 4/10, 1/3 on 3's and 5/5 from the line for 14 points. He also had 2 steals.

Nene Hilario played for 15 minutes and he had 8 points, but he had 4 fouls. Also with four fouls was Diawara, who played 20 minutes and took just two 3-point shots and missed them both, for zero points. Unless you are playing the hack-a-Shaq defense, 4 fouls in 15 or 20 minutes is not going to work. I think the team has been lectured by Karl about defence, but players such as Hilario and Diawara are trying too hard at this point and getting stupid fouls. Unless these two improve on defence, and Smith and Melo play more defence, the Nuggets may have a very serious problem here, a problem which could endanger the entire season.

Marcus Camby, who has been working on his shot lately, was 5/10 and 1/2 from the line for 11 points, and he had 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Melo had his best game of the season so far, thus preventing the rout. He was 15/26, 1/2 on 3's and 11/17 from the line for 42 points. I reckon he has now passed The Man Without a Team, Iverson, in the scoring title race. If Melo is going to be this accurate, he doesn't have to go to the hoop as much as Nuggets fans and the coach might want him to, provided that the refs don't call too many offensive fouls on him. Melo remains, as I expected, on track to be considered a superstar, on the same level as Kobe and LeBron, by the end of this season.

The next game on this rotten road trip is tomorrow night in NYC against the Knicks at 5:30 pm mountain time. A loss to the Knicks would be especially miserable.

Wizards Run the Nuggets Out of their Building 120-91, Despite Melo's 37

The Washington Wizards dominated the Nuggets, who had more problems than chances of winning tonight. The Nuggets defensive weakness, attention to detail, and turnover problems were exposed big-time tonight as they were run off the court by the Wizards. The Wizards added insult to injury by using the Nuggets fast paced scoring style, but without the turnovers and shaky defense to foul it up that the Nuggets often have.

The Nuggets have improved their 3-point shooting up to the top 10 in the NBA, from 6th worst in the league last year, but tonight they were schooled by the league's best 3-point shooting team, the Washington Wizards. The Wizards, who are averaging 8 3's a game this year, had 9 tonight as almost 1/3 of their 3-point shots went in. Overall, the Wizards were exactly .500 from the field.

Gilbert Arenas had 34 points, Caron Butler had 26, and Antawn Jamison had 19 points as Washington made the defensively weak Nuggets pay all game long for their sloppy play and relative lack of defensive skill or hustle. The Nuggets had 20 turnovers and 25 personal fouls, while the Wizards had just 12 turnovers and 20 fouls. Denver is now leading the whole league in BOTH turnovers and personal fouls, and this MUST improve or the Nuggets (12-8) are going to have extreme difficulty keeping up with the six monster teams in the Western Conference, and extreme difficulty getting past round one in the playoffs. You can't shoot or run enough to offset this many turnovers and fouls.

The Nuggets, who have been living off of J.R. Smith's fantastic year, found out what happens when Smith has a bad night. Although there is no news, Smith must have been sick or slightly injured or something because he only played for about 19 minutes. Smith was only 0/5, 0/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 2 points. Diawara played 23 minutes but was just 1/3 and 0/2 on 3's for 2 points. So the 3-point crew had exactly zero 3-pointers. Ouch.

Andre Miller had the worst night of all the starters, with 5 of the turnovers and 4 fouls. Miller was only 3/14, and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 8 assists. Ouch. The Nuggets, who are leading the league in assists per game, had just 21 assists as a team tonight, 9 fewer than their average.

Camby has been working on his shot recently and he finally got a payoff; he was 6/7 for 12 points, and he had 7 rebounds. Reggie Evans got 26 minutes and he made the most of them: he was 5/7 and 2/5 from the line for 12 points, and he had 10 rebounds, a steal, and an assist. Tonight, Melo joined Camby and Evans on the rebounding crew with 8 rebounds.

Melo returned to superstar level play and was 16/27 and 5/6 from the line for 37 points. Without this big night, the Nuggets would have been run into the Atlantic Ocean tonight. Where there is a superstar there is hope for the future. Melo can move ahead of the Man Without a Team, Iverson, in the race for top scorer with big games this Friday and Saturday against two poor defensive teams, the Celtics and the Knicks.

So the next game on this road trip is this Friday December 15 in Boston against the Celtics at 5:30 pm mountain time. It's almost a must win if the Nuggets are going to come back to Denver from this road trip with the same chemistry and confidence they had setting out on it.

NBAs Biggest 1-2 Punch & Boykins Power Nuggets Past Hawks 100-87

The Atlanta Hawks started off well at home, but went downhill steadily, until they practically couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Conversely, the Nuggets had a slow start but turned on the juice when it most counted in the second half. What is now one of the league's most dangerous combos, Melo and J.R. Smith, combined for 43 points, enough together with 19 from Boykins to beat the Hawks. Melo and Smith combined are averaging a huge 49 points per game for the season.

Melo was 10/25, 1/3 on 3's, and 5/8 from the line for 26 points, much better than at Dallas but still not quite at the top of his game. Smith was 7/13 and 3/6 on 3's for 17 points. Boykins in 24 minutes off the bench was 8/11, 1/3 on 3's and 2/2 from the line for 19 points. On the season, Boykins is 10.1 ppg and 4.4 assists per game. Keep in mind that the average man is taller than Boykins, who is the shortest player in the NBA at 5'5".

Camby and Reggie Evans shut down what little offense the Hawks could muster in the second half and made this a relatively easy win. Camby has been working on his shot alot lately and tonight was 4/12 and 0/2 from the line for 8 points. The Nuggets outrebounded the Hawks 46-36; Camby had 17 rebounds and Evans had 10. Evans was 4/4 from the free throw line; his accuracy was greatly improved from recent games.

Andre Miller had 9 assists, but he got into foul trouble. Maybe he was distracted about the rumor he might become a 76er? Just kidding. At least I think I'm just kidding. The Nuggets as a whole had a sloppy 21 turnovers but the Hawks could not gain much from this.

Diawara continues his aggressive and improving shooting, which is an important positive development for the Nuggets chances to advance beyond the first round or two in the playoffs. You have to have at least one reliable gunner off the bench who can score a chunk of points relatively quickly. The Nuggets bench is alot less weak than the "experts" thought if Diawara can have nights like tonight on a regular basis. In just 21 minutes, Diawara was 3/6, 2/5 from 3-point land, and 1/1 from the line for 9 points. All of the sudden, the Nuggets, who last year had just 350 3-point shots while their opponents had 530, may have not one but two major three-point threats.

The next game is tomorrow night in D.C. against the Wizards at 5 pm mountain time.

Melo & Unrested Nuggets Fall Short to Mavs 105-90

This game had loss written all over it, because the Nuggets were called on by the schedule to play in Dallas with no rest from the night before, which was a late night because of the demands of ESPN television. Dallas was completely rested and Denver was as unrested as a team can get. In the end, the score was a reasonable loss instead of a 30 or 35 point blowout that tired teams frequently have in San Antonio or Dallas, Texas. Melo had his worst game of the season, which made it impossible for Denver to have a chance here.

So if Melo had a bad night, how was the 30 or 35 point blowout avoided? Most of the rest of the team, other then Anthony, had good nights when you consider the circumstances. J.R. Smith, who can now be considered virtually as important to the team as Melo, was 4/9, 2/6 on 3's, and a perfect 8/8 from the line for 18 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Najera and Camby had enough defense to prevent a demoralizing blowout. Eduardo Najera tangled with the Mavs from the start, and actually fouled out very late in the game. He was 4/6, and 2/2 from the line, for 10 points. He also had 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. And the other defensive presence was of course Marcus Camby, who has been in a sour but aggressive mood lately. He took more shots than normal. He was 5/15, and 3/5 from the line for 13 points. He also had 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He had only 2 personal fouls but he did get a t again.

Since Denver could never get any offensive rhythm going, Miller had just 2 assists, but he as a very respectable 5/9 and 2/3 from the line for 12 points. Boykins was energetic as usual so he was 5/9 for 10 points, and he added 2 assists and 3 steals.

Diawara was aggressive off the bench and he was 1/3 on 3's, and he had 2 rebounds and a steal in just 17 minutes. But he was called for 3 fouls and lost some playing minutes and a couple more shot attempts as a result. Kleiza had 5 rebounds, and Nene Hilario had 4 rebounds, but neither one could hit shots; they need more practice or at least more playing time than they have been getting to have a chance to produce.

So you can see that all of the Nuggets who came in with substantial playing time actually had good nights. If Melo had a "normal" game, the Nuggets would have been able to at least test the Mavs at the end. But Melo had a miserable game, which I have to report was even worse than the stats make it seem. For the record, Melo was 8/26, 0/3 on 3's and 2/2 from the line for 18 points. He had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal, but 5 turnovers and 4 fouls. Although this was the worst game of the season for Melo, I'm not worried; this happens to all great shooters from time to time. Even Michael Jordan had lousy shooting nights every now and then.

The one thing that you can worry about is that Melo MUST go to the hoop and get to the line alot more than he did in this game for the Nuggets to win playoff games. When a player like Melo goes to the hoop, he gets more respect from the refs; notice how he's picking up a bunch of offensive fouls lately from refs who will key in on any shooter who doesn't go to the hoop much. I think you have to earn respect from the refs if you want to avoid marginal offensive foul calls. Anyhow, the idea that Melo was going to have some kind of perfect season was nothing more than a fantasy that lasted longer than it could have. It was great while it lasted.

This was the nasty start to the nastiest road trip of the year for the Nuggets. There are 4 more straight games on the road, and they come in the form of two pairs of back to back games.

The next game, which is in Atlanta, is against the same team that stole the game from the Nuggets last Wednesday, the Hawks, this Tuesday Dec. 12 at 5 pm mountain time.

Fired Up J.R. Smith & Nuggets Bury Heat 123-107

The fired up Nuggets, still angry about choking in the loss to the Hawks at home two nights ago, came out of the tunnel charged up to show the ESPN viewers and the home crowd that they are a force to be reckoned with and they proceded to do just that. J.R. Smith exploded with a career performance that is as close as you can get to a perfect game for a guard. It was impossible for the Heat to slow down, let alone stop the offensive juggernaut of the Nuggets, who were .541 from the field and 9/17 for .529 from 3-point land, on the strength of J.R. Smith's 7/9 3-point land shooting.

And the Nuggets clearly got some heads up on how to close a game when you have a double digit lead in the 4th quarter. Miami was behind just 91-102 at the end of 3 quarters and when you have as little defense as the Nuggets do, and when Marcus Camby has been ejected and Evans is sick, that is not much of a lead. But the Nuggets were in no mood to let this one get away, and they properly closed out the Heat. They had a shot clock violation at one point that I thought was a good thing, because it shows they were chewing clock.

Smith is now the real deal 3-point threat that the Nuggets badly needed. Whether he will be a clutch go-to guy to take the heat off Melo in tight 4th quarters still remains to be seen. Whether Smith can also assume this role will probably determine how far the Nuggets can go in the playoffs. See this thread for more on this subject:
http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63040

Late in the 1st quarter, Melo yelled at an official because a loose ball that was off of Wade was called as off of him. When Melo got a technical foul, Camby got ticked off and knocked off old George Karl's cup of throat lozenges from the scorer's table onto the floor. The refs hit Camby with a double technical and ejected the last defensive presence the Nuggets had left on the roster. So if Denver was going to win, they would have to fire up the scoring engine and step on the gas. So they did. Melo and Smith combined were 24/45 from the field, 8/12 from downtown, and 13/15 from the line, for 69 points. Smith alone was 12/18 from the field, 7/9 from downtown, and 6/6 from the line for 37 points.

Andre Miller brought alot of order back to the offense and generally "ran things" with 20 assists. Najera was 5/6 and he had 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Kleiza took advantage of his 26 minutes; he was 5/8 from the field and 5/6 from the line for 15 points and he added 4 rebounds and a block.

The Nuggets (11-6) don't have any time to enjoy this win. The next game is tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks (13-6) in Dallas, and the Mavs did not play tonight so they will be more rested. Let's hope the Nuggets at least don't get blown out like so many teams do when they play in Texas. Tomorrow we will get another big clue about whether the Nuggets have the skill, the heart, and the will to use their scoring talents to stay in games. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time.

Nuggets Find the Way to Lose to Hawks 98-96

The Nuggets had a tough time coming up with a way to lose to the Atlanta Hawks at home but they came up with one. The Nuggets led most of the game, and led 75-61 at the end of three quarters and 88-74 with 8:41 left. This team needs to learn how to close. With that kind of a lead you can take some chances on defense and go for some steals or, at the very least, increase the defensive pressure. Double team the guy or two who might be able to hit a bunch of 3's. On offense, chew some clock by passing the ball around alot.

Or at the very least, HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL WHEN YOU ARE WAY AHEAD. The Hawks had 5 steals in their 4th quarter surge! Jeesh! All the Nuggets had to do to win was take care of the ball. The Nuggets keep playing as if they are running to catch up even when they are well ahead. At least old George Karl finally called a time out with the score at 88-85, just before I was going to start waking up the neighbors by shouting.

Ok, had the Nuggets won, I would have said this is a great team effort type of team which is trying to get everything it can out of all it's players; the Nuggets did end up with six players in double digits. Trouble is, it went too far tonight. The offense got too complicated and confusing, and Melo was kept out of too many plays. Somebody has to be the go-to guy; no team has ever won a Championship without a clear leader.

Melo was called for two straight offensive fouls early in the third quarter, giving him 4 pf's and he was taken out for almost the whole quarter. That alone cost the Nuggets the game. But even when Melo came back, not enough plays were set up for him, the highest scorer of the highest scoring team in the league. Another mistake. That said, Melo was not quite at the top of his game tonight, though this was not the type of dud game he had sometimes as a rookie and in his second year (last year).

The Nuggets, who were a pitiful 16/33 from the line tonight, need to shoot a whole lot more free throws in practice. Had they simply hit their free throws, this game was theirs.

This loss is the kind of loss that costs a team home-court advantage in a key playoff series (against Houston,? Phoenix?). It is a very tough loss for Nuggets fans tonight.

Camby, JR Smith, and Miller all had 10-12 points, as did Boykins and Diawara off the bench. Diawara had two straight threes at the end of the third quarter which should have been the dagger. Reggie Evans had a tough night by being just 2/7 from the line and he had only 5 rebounds. Camby led the rebounding with 15 and he had 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Najera was 4/4 from the field but missed every one of his 5 free throws!

Melo was 11/27, 1/2 from downtown, 1/2 from the line, 7 rebounds and just 1 assist. The star of the team just didn't have the ball enough times tonight.

The next game is at home against Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. The tip off is at 8:30 pm Mountain time Friday night December 8.

Dec. 2 '06: Air Denver Leaves the Pacers at the Terminal 121-101

Even playing on back to back nights does not slow down these explosive Nuggets, as the Pacers were left in the airport terminal as Air Denver took flight again tonight. The Pacers, on a long road trip, nontheless were in top form in the 1st quarter, particularly Harrington. But then it started to rain. It started to rain 3's. By the end of the 1st quarter, the Nuggets already had five 3-pointers. By halftime, the Nuggets were an incredible 8/12 from 3-point land. They finished the game 11-20 from downtown; J.R. Smith was an incredible 5/7; Boykins was 2/2; Melo was 2/3; and Diawara was 2/5. This 3-point shooting is a dimension which makes a running team especially deadly, so Dallas and San Antonio may have to start to worry now.

Marcus Camby led the rebounding tonight, with 15. The Pacers led rebounding 54-41 but that can only go so far against a Nuggets team that was .477 from the field and had 11 3's. The Nuggets got a free pass defensively tonight because of their offensive explosion and because the Pacers eventually ran out of gas.

The road weary Pacers had 33 personal fouls called against them by some tough refs, the Nuggets had 23.

Boykins off the bench (is this guy real or what) was 5/10, 2/2 from downtown, and 3/4 from the line, for 15 points. He also had 6 assists, and one steal. J.R. Smith was 5/9 and every single one of his scores were 3-pointers (5/7)! He was 4/4 from the line and he had 19 points.

Melo had 38 points in 3 quarters. That is not a misprint. He was pulled late in the 3rd quarter, when the game was all but over. Old George Karl may be starting to get visions of appearing in the Western Conference Championship, and he wants to avoid injuries in garbage time at all costs; good move. The Nuggets led 99-81 at the end of 3, and the entire 4th was garbage time. In 3 quarters, Melo was 14/25, 2/3 from 3-point land, and 8/11 from the line, for 38 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Nuggets now enjoy 3 full days off. The next game is not until Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m. Mountain Time in Denver, against the Atlanta Hawks.

Dec. 1 '06: Nuggets All Over the T-Wolves 106-92

The Nuggets returned to great basketball after an off game three nights ago and are once again 8-2 in the last 10. They beat Minnesota on the road 106-92. The game was essentially a rout, with the T-Wolves making up some of the 22 point deficit after three quarters during garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Veteran point guard Andre Miller returned to solid play after an off game against Memphis and was 8/14 from the field including 1/1 from three point land and he also had 9 assists. Najera played much better than in most other games thus far this season and had 11 rebounds, 8 of them offensive and 14 points on 6/11 shooting. But Reggie Evans had 16 rebounds, 8 each. The T-Wolves were smothered on the boards.

Last, but, of course, not least, Melo had 35 points on 14/24 from the field; 2/3 from 3-point land; 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Right now Iverson is averaging 31.7 and Melo 31.5; the race is on.

All and all, Nuggets fans can be happy tonight because they won a road game easily that they were supposed to win. The Nuggets are tied with the Kings for 6th place in the Conference.

The next game is tomorrow night, Saturday, Dec 2, back in Denver at 7 pm mountain time against the Indiana Pacers. Both teams will be playing back to back nights.

Nov 28 '06: Nuggets Lose to Lowly Grizzlies 108-96

The Grizzlies came to play and surprised the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets tonight ending the Nuggets win streak at 5. Melo got 37 but the starting guards had just 10 points between them. Diawara had a nice game off the bench with 13 points, a block, and he was 3/6 from 3-point land. George Karl refused to call time out as the Nuggets were falling badly behind in a huge Memphis 2nd quarter run. The Nuggets caught up in the third quarter but Memphis scored almost at will and surged ahead early in the 4th quarter. Will someone do something, anything, about the lack of defensive hustle and pressure? Jeesh! Next game: at Minnesota, Friday Night December 1, 6 PM mountain time