| 23 October 2009
(Denver-CO) There are a few good things we now know after the Denver Nuggets were dismantled by the Los Angeles Lakers, 106-89. Rookie Ty Lawson looks more game ready than previously thought, Carmelo Anthony appears to be ready to regain his position atop the leaderboards as one of the top five scorers in the NBA, and there's a slew of other positives brewing around the rest of the starting five.
Oh, and I almost forgot, the Lakers are uber-deep, talented, and BIG!
For the Nuggets, I was very impressed with Ty Lawson's speed and ability to get to the rim and create for himself and others. His box score may be lean (six points, one assist, one rebound, one steal, and a -13 +/- overall) but there were a lot of promising signs in last night's game. For starters, Ty Lawson displayed a brand of speed that I can't remember any Nugget since Earl Boykins bringing to the fold. Lawson proved he is the kind of change-of-pace point guard that can take it down to the other end for easy scoring opportunities off of long rebounds, slice-and-dice a defense in the half court game, and leave the opposition in poor match-ups in transition all of which hint at good things for the Nuggets. That is... unless your name is Anthony Carter because it appears that this young buck out of the University of North Carolina is ready to play and offering a lot.
Carmelo Anthony also seems to have a rejuvenated sense about him on the offensive end. Perhaps this is from an off-season that he final had "off" or just the next step in his maturation process, but one thing for sure is Anthony is making putting up big numbers look awfully easy. We all know about his explosive capabilities offensively from scenes like scoring 33 points in a quarter and his late game heroics, but never have I seen the game, and more specifically scoring, come to 'Melo so easily. 'Melo scored a nearly silent, game-high 28 points against the Lakers and to be quite honest with you there wasn't a single bucket that sticks out in my mind. His offense is like thin slices of room temperature butter slid into boiling hot mashed potatoes; before you know it he's put nearly 30 points in the box score and all that's left is a hint of 'Melo's flavor in every bite!
Kenyon Martin and Nene also deserve mention. K-Mart, after slimming down a few pounds, looks to have taken five years worth of NBA mileage off his odometer. He has that explosive bounce back into his post game and seems to be a half-step quicker off the ball defensively. For the Nuggets, this means a lot more high percentage shots within pointblank range off of drop-steps, offensive rebound dunk tips, and steals on the defensive end. Martin has also put some arch on his former line drive jump shot even to the point where he almost banked in a Tim Duncan-esque twelve footer last night. His front court running mate Nene also seems ready to pick up where he left off last year. Slated to be in the All-Star running for Western Conference Center, Nene has shown me this preseason that last season's career highs in points, rebounds, and blocks could have just been foreshadowing for what kind of numbers he might put up this year. He too, like 'Melo, seems to have the game within in the game landing squarely in his lap and in combination with his gigantic hands and swift footwork looks poised to do big things this year for the Nuggets - All-Star bid or not.
But just to keep reality in check here, the Lakers did lead by as many as 19 points in this contest and didn't strain their starting five doing so.
Go Nuggets!
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