| 26 March 2007
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)(Boulder-CO) The Denver Nuggets will have to wait until next season to try and get a win in Detroit due to their own idiocy, a whistle choking officiating crew, and Rasheed Wallace forcing overtime where the Nuggets lost, 113-109. In what was one of the most bizarre 1.5 seconds of basketball, Marcus Camby threw a ridiculously poor inbounds pass, which was not received clean and stolen, resulting in Rasheed Wallace throwing in a 65-foot -off the glass- prayer that was answered to force overtime.
The inbound pass from Camby was intended for Carmelo Anthony. Mistake number one. It should have been to Allen Iverson without question. In addition to that poor decision, Chauncey Billups flat-out wrapped up Steve Blake to impede his movement to the play which should have been an automatic foul call by the refs. Mistake number two. How a NBA officiating crew can all be looking the other way on something like that befuddles me, but the grim reality is that the deadly combination of the Nuggets’ own poor decision making and the no-call let the snake out of the bag and it turned around to bite em.
In overtime you just knew the Nuggets were destined to lose this game. ‘Sheed hit another three-pointer, double clutching nonetheless, and the Pistons sank eight of ten free-throws to ice it. What could have been a 4-1 Eastern Conference road trip will now wind up being a 2-3 scamper due to two heartbreaking losses leaving the Nuggets with the Clippers breathing right down their neck just 1.5 games back in the eighth spot.
However, it’s not all bad when you really evaluate how the Nuggets played despite taking the L.
The Nuggets had six players score in double figures and out rebounded, out passed, and out stole the Pistons overall. Marcus Camby was the Nuggets scoring leader finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, and a block. His front court partner Nene also played huge. “Big Brazil” finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds (including nine offensive boards), four assists, two steals, and two blocks. The only other Nugget to score twenty or more points was J.R. Smith with 21 points, five rebounds, four steals, two assists, and a block.
Carmelo Anthony sputtered with Tayshaun Prince hounding him all night finishing with 14 points with five rebounds and Allen Iverson ended with 16 points and eight assists, but who am I kidding?
This loss hurts because it is still yet another game that the Nuggets SHOULD have won. At one point things like this will stop happening to this team, but until that day comes, I’m just another Nuggets fan who has almost become accustomed to this kind of disappointment.
I urge you to console each other in the comments section.
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