The Nugg Doctor - A Denver Nuggets Blog
1st
- Ty Lawson started for the second straight game as Chauncey Billups was not in uniform with a sprained wrist. So too were the Bulls without their starting point guard due to Derek Rose missing his second game with a sore neck.
- The Nuggets opened up with an 11-0 start to the game. They did so with nothing more than solid defense and good sound offense. Basketball purist all over the Mile High City took a deep contented sigh.
- Nene looked fantastic from the opening tip. He was 5-5 from the field in the first six minutes of the first quarter as a result of taking the ball strong to the basket and establishing deep position early.
- Arron Afflalo hit his second three of the game to give Denver a 24-7 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first. His first came from the weak side corner on a great pass from Carmelo Anthony. The difference between Arron Afflalo and J.R. Smith was never more clear than on a similar occasion just moments later. “Triple A” was in the same corner as he had just drained a three in and was open again. Carmelo was late with the pass (and the pass took Arron out of his shooting pocket) and by the time Afflalo gathered the ball he was no longer open. So, instead of forcing the shot, a la J.R., Afflalo quickly entered the ball into Nene who had secured deep position and the Nuggets scored the easy basket. Once again, basketball purist all over the Mile High City took a deep contented sigh.
- The Birdman was soaring high with a pair of blocks. The second was from behind on the fast break. Tweet-tweet.
- The Nuggets scored just one point in the final 5:30 of the first quarter. They were 0-8 from the field during this stretch and on the short end of a 13-1 run by the Bulls.
2nd - 25-20 - Good Guys
- Nene continued to eat Joakim Noah alive on the offensive end. Big Brazil hit his first six shots of the game and was utilizing his left hand nicely around the basket. Nene also was superb defensively against Noah despite picking up his third foul (two out of the three were questionable…) with five minutes left in the half. Noah finished with a mere six points at the half.
- The Nuggets allow the Bulls just 18 points in the quarter and 38 for the half in what could have been their best collective defensive showing of the season so far. Granted, the Bulls couldn’t have thrown sand in the ocean (just 31% from the field) and even a sure Noah dunk was called off on a 24 second clock violation, but Denver didn’t allow a whole lot of easy offensive possessions and for that deserve due credit.
3rd - 48-38 - Good Guys
- Denver jumped right on Chicago to open up the second half by way of a 10-0 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Nuggets opened up a 19-point lead during this stretch.
- The Nuggets’ lead dipped down to single digits (nine) with under six minutes remaining before a timely three by Ty Lawson pushed Denver back up by a dozen. During this stretch I kept waiting for George Karl to call timeout and/or insert Al Harrington to change the chemistry offensively for the Nuggets who had otherwise looked shoddy after Nene picked up his fourth foul.
- Al Harrington tried to draw a charge on C.J. Watson and was called for a block that put Watson on the free-throw line. I personally thought he was set for the whistle to go Denver’s way, but the referee saw differently and Watson was awarded two free-throws. He hit both and the Bulls were suddenly down by just five, 64-59.
- Anthony Carter had no business trying to stop Joakim Noah from slamming home an alley-oop on the fast break. The ill-advised attempt not only gave Noah an and one, but sparked the already emotionally charged Chicago center at a very inopportune time of the game. The Bulls were on a run and Noah hit the free-throw to bring the Bulls within four, 66-62. I mean, did he really think he was going to block Noah’s dunk?
- Scott Hastings mentioned Carmelo Anthony is battling a stomach flu for the first time. ‘Melo scores the final four Denver points in the third quarter to keep Denver up by three, 76-73, after they had all but pissed away what was once a 19-point lead.
4th - 76-73 - Good Guys
- The game was tied by C.J. Watson at 82 with six and a half minutes to play in regulation. The Bulls took their first lead of the night, 85-82, on a three by Kyle Korver on their next possession. For those keeping track, that is a 22-point swing from when the Nuggets led by 19 points, 59-40.
- Denver regained the lead, 92-91, after Nene rejected the driving Noah and Carmelo laid in a pretty finger roll.
- I’m confident when I say Ty Lawson could run a sub 4.4 second forty yard dash. When he is in the open floor with the basketball it looks like my DVR is in fast forward. Lawson put the Nuggets up by three, 94-91, with under two and a half minutes to play when he burned sneaker rubber in transition for an easy lay-up.
- C.J. Watson put the Bulls back up by one, 95-94, with under a minute to play with a nice running floater under defensive duress of Ty Lawson and Nene. He again came through for Chicago on the next possession in similar fashion to give the Bulls a three-point lead, 97-94.
- John Lucas III is fouled with twelve seconds remaining and misses both free-throws to keep Denver alive despite being down by one, 97-96.
- Carmelo Anthony isolates on the right wing and takes a well defended attempt that misses, but is thankfully last touched by the Bulls. Thinking that Carmelo should defer to a teammate on this next possession… he bullishly (pun intended) takes the final shot again only this time draining the 18 footer and giving Denver the win, 98-97!
Nugget of Note: I was skeptical of Carmelo being able to dig down deep enough to hit a game winner tonight. He was sick, had played an inconsistent game all night, and his jumper had been off since the first quarter. However, to have the kind of guts to take the SECOND attempt at the game winning shot after all but getting the first rejected back into your face is the stuff that separates the true stars in this league from the “stat guys”. Carmelo Anthony is a true star in this league, Nuggets Nation. His stat line may not be what we all want it to be night-in and night-out, but make no mistake about the message in my last sentence.
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1st
- Ty Lawson got the start for the beat up Chauncey Billups. Billups sustained an injury to his wrist against the Nets amongst other injuries in a nasty fall that left him with stitches in the bridge of his nose and a chipped tooth.
- Chris “Birdman” Andersen made his season debut with six minutes left in the first quarter. Bird is sporting some new ink around his neck which states that he is indeed a, “Free Bird”.
- Denver allowed six offensive rebounds in the first quarter. Not a very good idea to give up a lot of second looks against a scoring team like Golden State
- J.R. Smith has made his way back into George Karl’s rotation. He had a nice stop-and-go move that freed up the Birdman for his first dunk of the season.
- Anthony Carter made his season debut as well tonight. <Insert crickets chirping.>
- The Nuggets lacked an overall sharpness to their demeanor in the first quarter. Being without Chauncey Billups certainly played a role in this feeling, but I can’t help but feel Carmelo didn’t seize the opportunity to step in as a more vocal leader for this team.
24-21 - Bad Guys
2nd
- Al Harrington introduced himself to his old team with a three to bring the Nuggets back to within one, 31-30, with under eight remaining in the half.
- Arron Afflalo hit his second three on the next possession to tie the game at 33.
- Al Harrington hit two more three-pointers in the quarter to put the Nuggets up by three, 45-42, with under three minutes to play in the half. He scored eleven points in the first half off the bench.
- Anthony Carter and Ty Lawson committed point guard sins when they picked up their dribble and threw a cross court pass that intersected the key. As a team, Denver turned the ball over ten times in the first half.
- Monta Ellis hit a buzzer beating 30 footer to end the half that put the Warriors up by one, 52-51.
52-51 - Bad Guys
3rd
- The pace quickened in the third quarter and Carmelo kept Denver one step ahead with his marvelous offensive display. ‘Melo had 17 in the first half and finished the third with 28 points.
- Birdman stole an errant pass with under a minute remaining in the third and ran the fast break himself. He soared from one branch to the other (ok, in all fairness he took off from a step in from the free-throw line) and finger rolled it in from high above the rim. On the ensuing possession, Andersen tossed up a lucky bucket facing the other way and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but gave the Nuggets a lot of momentum headed into the fourth with the lead, 79-71.
- Denver held the Warriors to just 19 points in the third quarter. It was the lowest quarterly total thus far into the season for Golden State.
79-71 - Good Guys
4th
- The Nuggets opened up an 11-point lead, 84-73, with ten minutes to play after Arron Afflalo hit his third trifecta.
- After opening the aforementioned lead everything went south offensively for Denver. The ball stopped moving, there was way too much dribbling, Anthony Carter took an ill-advised three from the corner, and the Warriors went on an 8-0 run in the next three minutes.
- Dan Gadzuric was a Nugget killer on the offensive boards during this stretch with two timely rebounds. It seemed like on every play he was attacking the offensive glass and creating second chance opportunities for himself and his teammates. At this point in the season, the Nuggets still do not have a legitimate rebounding presence on their front line. And by legitimate rebounding presence I mean a player 6’9” or taller who practices the art of boxing out on a regular basis.
- The Nuggets opened up a 12-point lead when Carmelo Anthony scored the hoop and the harm with under four minutes to play. ‘Melo finished with a new season-high of 39 points in total. He was from a perfect 17-17 from the free-throw line.
- Ty Lawson single-handedly broke the offensive funk for Denver with his penetration and passing. On numerous occasions, Lawson broke Stephen Curry’s ankles and blew past the help rotation to either point-blank lay-ups or drop offs to waiting teammates.
- The Nuggets would one up themselves defensively in the fourth quarter by holding the Warriors to just 18 points. Bravo. Had they only not allowed those 18 points to be scored in the first five minutes of the quarter my blood pressure wouldn’t have skyrocketed.
106-89 - Nuggets Win
Nugget of Note: I mentioned that there isn’t one individual rebounding presence so far this season for Denver, but against the Warriors it was by committee. Carmelo, Afflalo, and Nene each finished the night with nine rebounds and Al Harrington chipped in eight boards off the bench. The Nuggets were being out rebounded by the Warriors in the first half 24-23, but won the overall battle 47-38. A big reason for this was locking down the defensive glass in the second half. In the first half, Golden State cleared seven offensive rebounds. They finished with ten overall which means Denver did a good making the adjustment at intermission.
This was good win for Denver. The Nuggets have been struggling on the road and with the return of the Birdman, Carmelo’s high total for the season in points, and the rebounding by committee it’s at least something to build on.
Up next for the Nuggets is a little bit of rest and relaxation (thankfully) before taking on the Bulls Friday night. Enjoy your turkey, enjoy your gravy, but don’t forget to get ready for the Bulls.
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1st - 26-26 - Good Guys
- Sheldon Williams flat-out threw it down on Ronnie Turiaf. In Turiaf’s defense, he did come from under the rim to try and contest the shot, but also left his feet and as a result got the Sheldon Williams facial. Remember kids, if you can’t block it save yourself the embarrassment and stay on your feet.
- Ronnie Turiaf tried to foul out in the first quarter. He committed two fouls on Nene in under a minute off of the bench.
- Denver’s transition defense was atrocious in the second half of the quarter. Lollygagging, loafing, and otherwise taking it easy would be how I describe it. Al Harrington even pleaded with his teammates to, “ Hustle back, ya’ll”, after one of the numerous Knick run outs.
2nd - 61-54 - Good Guys
- The New York Knicks were 3-19 from the three point line in the first half. It seemed like everyone but color commentator Clyde Frazier hoisted a three for New York.
- The Nuggets went on a stretch where they made 10-12 field goals. During this stretch they extended a, 50-37, advantage.
- J.R. Smith made his first appearance of the game with a minute remaining in the half. Believe me, Nuggets Nation… There is more going on behind the scenes than we know when it comes to J.R. “Swish”.
- Carmelo Anthony and Al Harrington led the way offensively at the half with eleven each. Nene, Sheldon Williams, and Gary Forbes each added nine points, respectively. Forbes led the way rebounding with seven boards off the bench in twelve minutes of burn.
3rd - 94-82 - Good Guys
- It officially became “Ronnie Turiaf Poster Night” in the third quarter when Nene absolutely demolished the goal with Turiaf in the way. At first, I thought for sure he was just going to lay it up, but then (as I wish he would do more) Nene nearly ripped the goal from the backboard.
- Ronnie Turiaf had a rough night. He played 14 minutes, didn’t score, and fouled out. If there is a bright side to his play… he did get his money’s worth on all six fouls.
- Carmelo Anthony got his jumper going and scored nine points in the third quarter as the Nuggets opened up a twelve-point lead going into the fourth.
4th - 120-118 - Good Guys
- Are you freaking kidding me, Gary Forbes? Gary is quickly becoming a fan favorite in Denver because he plays the game the right way, with a ton of energy, for every minute he is on the floor. Tonight he posted a new career-high in points and rebounds with a stat line that reads 19 and nine. Not to mention he’s not afraid to get in somebody’s jock strap on defense.
- The Knicks charged all the way back from down a dozen to come within three with under four minutes remaining. The cause of this was the Nuggets settling on offense for jump shots while New York kept taking the ball to the rim. This is where Nene needs to assert himself with some good low post position and a solid move to the rack. Unfortunately, that play doesn’t exist late in the game for Denver.
- Carmelo Anthony accumulated yet another technical foul with 3:07 remaining in the game. The free throw pulled New York within two, 109-107. To compound things, ‘Melo was whistled for a loose ball foul on the jump ball that followed which put Wilson Chandler on the free throw line for a pair. Chandler hit both and tied the game.
- Nene did come through in the clutch when off of pick and roll with Chauncey he provided the Pepsi Center with the third facial of the evening. This time it was on Danilo Gallinari and gave the Nuggets a four-point lead, 115-111, with 1:37 left in regulation.
- Raymond Felton did provide some late-game drama when with under a second remaining he pulled out a long rebound and hit a leaping three that in all honesty I thought was going to be a four point play with the Knicks down by just as many. Thankfully, no whistle was blown and the Nuggets outlasted the Knicks, 120-118.
- Carmelo Anthony led the charge with 26 points and nine rebounds when all was said and done. Hopefully he realizes the grass is not greener in New York and stays in Denver long term.
Nugget of Note: The Denver bench was the difference tonight. With Al Harrington finishing with 22 points, Forbes with the aforementioned 19 points, and Ty Lawson chipping in six the Nuggets outscored the Knicks bench, 47-33. Without those guys there is no way the Nuggets prevail in this one. On the same note, J.R. Smith did not play in the second half. Start the trade rumors.
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All game recaps will be handled as follows from now on:
1st
-Al Harrington was a beast off the bench with seven points in the first quarter. He would finish with 14 points overall.
-Gary Forbes seems to have gained favor in the George Karl rotation over J.R. Smith and was Karl’s first shooting guard off the bench.
2nd
-‘Melo’s rebounding was outstanding in the first half. He finished with eleven boards in just his first 17 minutes of action.
- Defensively, Phoenix was limited to one shot and the Nuggets were running the floor. Denver had ten fast break points in the first half.
- Ty Lawson was the fuel of the Nuggets fast break and after making a three-pointer seemed to regain his confidence offensively.
- J.R. Smith DNP in the first half… Makes you wonder if he isn’t being shopped quietly on the trading block.
3rd
- Lawson’s offensive swagger continues as Chauncey Billups has a hard time shooting the basketball. Billups was 0-4 shooting to start the game after attempting some of his more reliable signature shots.
-‘Melo continues to rebound at a feverous pace. Anthony Nabbed his career-high 19th rebound on a tip in of his own miss during the third quarter.
-The Nuggets turned the ball over eight times in the quarter after starting out 1-9 from the field and despite losing most of their halftime lead finished the quarter on a 5-0 spurt to enter the fourth up by seven, 76-69.
4th
- This was the quote of the night despite the Nuggets losing the game, “Childress has a long wingspan, good hops, and a great afro, but he is not strong enough to guard ‘Melo.”- Chris Marlowe
- George Karl stays with Ty Lawson instead of going back to Billups to start the fourth quarter. Chauncey would return and try to spark the Nuggets with a timely three with Denver down by nine, but it wasn’t enough.
- Hakim Warrick ties the game at 81 with a post up, fade away jumper on the smaller Forbes. The Suns then take their first lead of the second half, 83-82, on a Turkoglu hoop and the harm and after Chauncey Billups was hit with the Nuggets third technical foul of the night Denver trailed, 85-82, with 6:30 remaining. Warrick would score again on the ensuing Phoenix possession and the Nuggets found themselves down by five after a twelve-point swing in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
- Carmelo Anthony finished with an amazing 22 rebounds despite not having his best night offensively. Anthony chipped in 20 points for a team-high.
Nugget of Note: Nuggets failed to block a shot. Despite Nene’s solid night offensively (and I thought the Nuggets should have worked him the ball more) for an NBA center to not block a shot in 30 minutes is just not getting it done on the defensive end of the floor. He should have put some of the energy he delegated to pouting and arguing with the officiating crew into guarding the basket. The box score will say he did block a shot, but even Chris Marlowe noted that Denver did not actually do so.
Up next for the Mile High Crew is a chance to redeem themselves against the New York Knicks tonight at Pepsi Center. no comments
Here’s what you have to remember about games played early in the season: No win is as sweet as it seems and no loss is as sour either. Case in point: A feel good win on the back of back-to-back games in Houston and a close fought loss to the Dallas Mavericks at home. The Nuggets will move on. So should we. Not to mention… there is a lot of good going on right now while this team is intact.
In Houston, it was a balanced attack that fruited the win for Denver. Al Harrington looked great in 30 minutes off the bench scoring a game-high tying 28 points, including 5-8 from the land of plenty, and snaring ten rebounds. In cahoots with Melo’s 24 points, four rebounds, four assists, and pair of blocks and Chauncey Billups’ scoring 13 points and handing out three assists the Nuggets showcased their version of a big three that more than countered Houston’s top three performers. Louis Scola finished with 28 points and ten boards and Kevin Martin with 21 points and four assists for the Rockets.
The Nuggets had a well-rounded game defensively as well. Collectively, they forced 19 Rocket turnovers and capitalized 20 points off said miscues and for the third straight time this season have forced more turnovers and scored more points off turnovers than their opponent. All five starters and seven out of the nine players that George Karl turned to in Houston recorded a steal and every Nugget secured at least one rebound. Also of note, Denver was a combined 29-33 from the free-throw line.
And that’s how you win on the road. You band together. You do the dirty work. You emerge victorious.
The Nuggets then had three days off to regroup and prepare for the Dallas Mavericks to visit Pepsi Center for the first time in this young season and for the most part they did a great job banding together… for the first half. The ball moved freely, the assists were piling up, and the Denver defense had once again forced more turnovers than their opponent. The Nuggets built a ten-point lead midway through the second quarter, 41-31, and without Nene available seemingly struck gold with forward Gary Forbes who scored twelve of his eventual 14 points in the first half. Forbes also played stints of tremendous defense which included a take away from Dirk Nowitzki that sparked a successful fast break and a blocked shot.
The only problem was the dirty work stopped getting done as the second half neared end and the Nuggets lost track of the perennial sixth-man of the year candidate, Jason Terry, in the third quarter. To the Mavericks’ credit, their zone completely disrupted Denver’s ability to score points off made baskets.
Terry caught fire for 16 (four three’s) of his 20 points in the third quarter as the Mavericks ripped off 34 in the period. Add in the continued effectiveness of the Dallas zone as the Nuggets had no inside presence without Nene, Denver turning over the ball nine times in the second half and forcing just five more turnovers, and Dirk Nowitzki scoring a season-high 35 points and grabbing a dozen rebounds summed the Nuggets just falling ever so short.
Yet still, Denver had their chance late in this game, but the final straw broke when after forcing a 24-second shot clock violation Carmelo Anthony’s 14th game winner rattled in and out as time expired. Carmelo finished as Denver’s leading scorer and rebounder with 25 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Arron Afflalo continues to impress me with his decision making process and ability to knock down shots. Afflalo kicked in 17 points (3-4 from three) and five rebounds. Al Harrington and Chauncey Billups each scored 16 points and Ty Lawson handed out a team-high nine assists.
Up next for the Nuggets is a look at Blake Griffin and the Clippers at Pepsi on Friday night. Denver is now 1-1 at home.
And as the archival readers know, I love Chris Paul. So much in fact that I dream of Carmelo signing that three-year deal and CP3 coming to Denver next season when the Nuggets have the scratch it will take to soothe what should be an itchy situation for him in NOLA. Even Carmelo said, “That's my guy, so I know he wants to prove that he is one of the top point guards in the NBA. I think by his injury last season, a lot of people stopped talking about him, which is normal. Any time you're not in the picture, people tend to forget about you sometimes. But I'm glad to see him back and doing what he's doing.
A fella can dream, can’t he?
The truth about last night was the Nuggets had their chance to topple the Hornets in their own hive, but costly turnovers and heady play by Paul sealed their doom. The Nuggets battled back from 16 points down to take the lead on Al Harrington’s three with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter as Paul and David West were resting on the bench. The Nuggets would extend their lead to five on an assisted dunk by Harrington before Paul would return.
And once he did, he proved that he is STILL the best point guard in the league.
CP3 scored ten out of the NOLA's next 27 points personally and handed out three of his game-high seven assists in the final eight and a half minutes of regulation. He finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a steal and with the help of 37 points from the Hornets bench compared to just 27 from Denver’s the Nuggets are now 1-1 on the year.
As I said, Carmelo did everything he could to try and will the Nuggets to victory. ‘Melo scored a game-high 24 points, snatched ten rebounds, and handed out a pair of dimes. However, when you turn the ball over as a team 20 times (Chauncey and Sheldon had four apiece) it’s going to be tough to beat a team on the road. Also of note, the Nuggets only blocked two shots in comparison to eight by the Hornets.
Up next for the Nuggets is the second night of back-to-back games on the road as they travel to Houston to see Yao Ming and the Rockets tonight.
Just a little reading to keep your game sharp league-wide! Enjoy and great job to all the bloggers who made the NBA Blog Previews once again a huge success. Have a great season everyone!
Grizzlies: Straight Outta Vancouver | 3 Shades of Blue | SBN Recap
Hornets: At the Hive | Hornets247 | SBN Recap
Mavericks: MavsMoneyball | The Two Man Game
Rockets: The Dream Shake | SBN Recap
Spurs: Pounding the Rock | Project Spurs | SBN Recap
no commentsAlas! Carmelo Anthony started the season as a Denver Nugget and with the help of a talented crew made easy work of the Utah Jazz, 110-88. The Nuggets jumped all over the Jazz with a 9-0 lead in the first quarter of which they never lost throughout the duration of the game and there were plenty of pleasant surprises along the way. Including, the return of Head Coach George Karl from a eight-month battle with throat cancer. I truly felt the entire Pepsi Center transcending good will to the beloved coach which put a nice feeling in the air as the ball was thrown up for the opening tip of the 2010-2011 season.
For starters, the Nuggets looked great shooting the ball in the first half. They combined for 42% from the field which was amazing seeing how they took ten three’s in the first quarter.
Surprise number one was eight first half rebounds from Sheldon Williams. Also of note, Carmelo Anthony was hit with a technical foul for what the NBA deems histrionics nowadays. This is only noteworthy because as the season progresses certain players, i.e. Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony, are going to have to be careful with how much emotion they show after both good and bad plays to avoid suspensions down the road.
Also of note from the first half was how the Denver Nuggets scored 13 points off of twelve Jazz turnovers while limiting Utah to just 20 points in each of the first two quarters to take a, 60-40, advantage intermission.
In years past, I would expect a team like the Jazz to gain some ground on the Nuggets, who have historically been known to his the cruise control and let their opponent back into the fold. However, no such case in the second half for Denver. The Nuggets continued to execute defensively on a Jazz team that could throw a seashell in the ocean and some very promising performances ensued.
Arron Afflalo finished with 22 points on an economical 8-11 from the field which included numerous pretty finishes around the rim off the dribble. Afflalo was also 3-5 from the land of plenty while displaying a revamped shooting stroke while still being that guy on the team that doesn’t force things offensively. Meanwhile, Afflalo took the challenge of defending nearly every Jazz backcourt player to a standstill while Utah as a team finished shooting just 38% for the game scoring just 25 points or more in just one quarter and turning over the ball an uncharacteristic 22 times.
As for Carmelo… his 23 points were effortless. He played 36 minutes, added seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal. But the biggest surprise from game one was Sheldon Williams. Sheldon finished with a game-high 16 rebounds, seven offensive, and eight points in just 28 minutes. Performances like that will have the Nugget faithful saying, “Bird and Kenyon who?”, as the season goes on and what you have to like about Williams is his yeoman style. He’s never self-promoting and not afraid to do the dirty work. My kind of guy, for sure.
More to come after the Nuggets and Hornets mix it up tonight in NOLA.
Go Nuggets!
no commentsWe're all set to embark on yet another Nuggets season and what better way to start it all off than to see our friends, and bitter enemies, the Utah Jazz. I'm changing things up a bit this year so instead of a typical style preview I'm going to get right to the meat and potatoes of things, while pulling no punches.
With that being said... I loathe the Utah Jazz. The organization. Their players. Their coach. The whole damn state! Yes, I am impugning an entire state with noted prejudice. However, the Jazz found ways to improve this off-season and in my humble opinion are still the team to beat in the Northwest Division until further notice. They upgraded their frontcourt by replacing Carlos Boozer with Al Jefferson and provided depth in their backcourt by picking up the defensive minded Raja Bell and former Nugget Earl Watson.
Big Al has proven to be a load for the Nuggets over the years while with the Timberwolves and Denver is very familiar with what he brings to the table: he's big and he likes to get nasty in the paint. Both attributes spell trouble for the Nuggets while their defensive quarterback, Kenyon Martin, and best post defender off the bench, Chris Andersen, are sidelined with injuries until further notice. So... if your into stats be sure to keep an eye on Utah's field goal percentage. If it's high, Denver will most likely be on the losing end tonight. Remember, Jerry Sloan's offensive scheme is predicated on getting a lot of easy buckets in the paint.
Offensively, the Nuggets should be fine. For the time being Denver still has Carmelo and it will be interested to see how he and Al Harrington mesh. Al will probably slide down to the four spot when the two are on the floor at the same time and as long as the ball moves freely within George Karl's North Carolina style offense shots should be plentiful for all. Which, with the likes of J.R. Smith, Arron Afflalo, and Chauncey Billups around the perimeter and Nene inside should be enough to counter whatever Utah puts up on the scoreboard.
It should also be noted that the best case scenario for the Nuggets offensively is to run the Jazz to death. Ty Lawson should be, as he has been in the past, trouble for the stronger, slower Deron Williams. When he's in be looking for the Nuggets to get a lot of scoring opportunities in transition on the overall slower Utah Jazz. This will have a dual beneficial effect for Denver. Obviously, lay ups are good, but by keeping the game uptempo the Jazz will come out of their preferred style of slowing the game down and limiting possessions for their opposition and the Nuggets can establish their home court advantage with a win.
Go Nuggets!
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Bobcats: Rufus on Fire | Hoops Addict | SBN Recap
Hawks: Peachtree Hoops
Heat: Peninsula Is Mightier | SportsAgentBlog.com
Magic: Orlando Pinstriped Post | Magic Basketball | Orlando Magic Daily | Orlando Sports Central
Wizards: Bullets Forever | Sparty and Friends | Truth About It | SBN Recap
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