| 13 November 2007
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)(Boulder-CO) Jim Jones could not have made a song more fitting of tonight’s, 122-100, Denver victory. The Nuggets were officially “Ballin’” all over LeBron and the Cavaliers as the Pepsi Center went absolutely bananas from opening tip to final buzzer. There was even a surprise Coolio, (that’s right I said Coolio), performance at halftime as if the Nuggets dominating all facets of the game wasn’t enough for 15 some odd thousand fans that were in attendance.
Now, I could go into all the x’s and o’s that made the Nuggets successful, but I’m in too good of a mood right now to bore you with all that. So, how about instead I take the professionalism down a notch and get right to the straight dope that was tonight’s game?
Is that alright with everyone? Good, great, grand, on we go!
Right off the bat, I have to mention J.R. Smith’s absolutely mind boggling performance. Early in the first half, J.R. caught an alley-oops upside your head pass from AI, (backwards mind you), and finished off the dish with an absolutely ridiculous slam that had me so pumped up I could have slapped your momma! I might also mention that the reason why J.R. was in that position was because he made a great defensive play and outlet pass to Iverson that got the whole thing started. But besides that one play, I have to admit that down the home stretch I was actually hoping that J.R. would get back in the game because he was just that damn exciting tonight. And luckily for me he did, and he did not disappoint. Plus, aside from scoring 29 points on 7-8 from the land of plenty, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing four assists, J.R. did the Cavaliers absolutely dirty when with only a minute left and the Nuggets up by twenty he drops not one, but two cold-blooded three-pointers to further work the home crowd into an even more rabid frenzy!
Next on the long list of Nuggets highlights is the performance of Allen Iverson. AI gave the young Daniel Gibson a text book lesson on how he got the nickname “The Answer” as he lit the second-year player up for a game-high 37 points, eight assists, and three rebounds. In addition to AI’s schooling of the young Daniel Gibson, Carmelo Anthony efficiently gave the business to Ira Newble, Larry Hughes (who, by the way, got ejected in the first quarter for saying something to an offical that I have to assume was absolutely putrid), and Dwayne Jones on his way to 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals. ‘Melo was hitting all kinds of fade-aways and was making the extra pass at every opportunity. For example, on one particular occasion he grabbed an offensive rebound, split the defenders, and dimed Kenyon Martin for a thunderous slam when he could have easily scored the deuce himself. I mention this only because it was a clear example of how Carmelo Anthony is visibly trying to make his teammates better; a trait that I’m not sure I could realistically say was part of his game in seasons previous.
From there you have to tip your hat to the Nuggets as a cohesive defensive unit. Denver held the Cavaliers to just 41% from the field while out rebounding, stealing, and swatting Cleveland all over the floor. And per usual, Marcus Camby led the defensive charge for the Nuggets. The Captian held Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a mere two points and six rebounds while grabbing 12 errant Cleveland shots and swatting another one for good measure in just 31 minutes of action.
Plus, as I mentioned before, there was a surprise Coolio performance at halftime where the ex-star belted out all three of his biggest hits. “Get Your Woman on the Floor”, “Fantastic Voyage”, and “Gangsta’s Paradise” were so random that they just made my night. Not to mention the cornrow mohawk was priceless!
Up next for the Nuggets are the Trailblazers on Wednesday night. The Mile High crew now stands at 5-3 and more excited about Nuggets basketball I can not recall myself being. Get at me in the comments section if you have anything else to add.
Go Nuggets!
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