| 29 March 2009
(Denver-CO) Allow me to preface what I’m about to write with a disclaimer to Don Nelson. Don Nelson was a fantastic professional player who won five championships with the Boston Celtics and is a fantastic coach who over the years has won more games as head coach then everyone in the craft other than Lenny Wilkens. However, watching last night’s circus he put on the floor, even with the fact that he only had eight players to dress, made me wonder if Nellie’s small-ball approach to the game is officially antique.
The Denver Nuggets looked like a highlight reel played on loop that spanned nearly 40 of the 48 minutes this game lasted. Bird, ‘Melo, K-Mart, The Perfect Stranger, The Prodigy, LK, Dahntay Jones, and AC all had ridiculous games chalked full of stand up and cheer worthy plays as they cruised to a, 129-116, victory that in all honesty wasn’t even that close.
This highlight film does more justice than me just talking about each and every highlight this game had to offer. At one point, I think I even heard the action compared to a Rucker Park game.
Be sure to pay attention at the 3:20 when ‘Melo is WATCHED hitting a three-pointer. I mean, I don’t care what level of basketball it is you just don’t sit there while your man strokes twine in your face without doing something.
Believe it or not, the Nuggets actually only led by nine headed into intermission after scoring 38 points in the second quarter alone. But with a 13-0 run to start the second half, Denver quickly put this game into Sports Center mode. The Nuggets proceeded to open up a 32-point lead on their first bucket of the fourth quarter before allowing Don Nelson and his crew of eight Warriors to die a soldiers death.
Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 31 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Kenyon Martin looked to be near full health with an extra spring in his step. See, with Kenyon, it’s all about explosiveness and with K-Mart recording four blocks and eleven points I think he’s finally getting healthy. Chauncey Billups finished with 14 points, six assists, and no turnovers.
The Denver bench was also superb if not even superior to their starting brethren. Linas Kleiza finally got things going offensively and poured in 22 points and four rebounds. Anthony Carter was like a vending machine handing out dishes of all shapes and sizes while accumulating 13 assists. The Bird flew the coop that is my mind with a performance reading ten points, eleven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks while providing a ridiculous amount of energy. Renaldo Balkman showcased his ability to turn and shoot while putting together a line that reads ten points, two rebounds, two steals, two assists, and a block.
And then one must consider the talent that is J.R. Smith.
The Prodigy gave us two dunks that I will not forget for quite sometime. The first was a cradle-rocking slam of which he glided from the left side of the goal all the way over to the right side of the rim while switching hands in a rocking motion that made me reach for the Dramamine before flushing it through the net. The second was an absolutely humiliating dunk on Anthony Randolph. J.R. went up to the penthouse and dropped Randolph off on the tenth floor before cocking the rock back and slamming it literally down on Randolph who had found himself below J.R. and under the rim.
But we’ve all seen J.R. do that kind of thing before… but to put his abilities all in perspective you might have overheard during the highlight video that in this game J.R. also became the Nuggets second all-time three-point field goal shooter by makes in this just his third year as a Nugget. He surpassed Dale Ellis’ mark of 448 for that honor and now trails only Michael Adams’ 630 makes for first all-time in Nuggets’ franchise history.
As for Nellie’s small-ball… It may have gone the way of the Dodo. Without any size whatsoever the Nuggets dominated the Warriors and I think this quote from Don Nelson after the game leaves us with a nice conclusion, “We only had eight guys available so we had match up nightmares. They had so many mismatches, they didn't know which one to go to.”
Go Nuggets!
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