| 04 November 2009
(Denver-CO) The Denver Nuggets looked sloppy and struggled for the first half, but found lightning in a bottle offensively in the second to blow out New Jersey, 122-94. Fueled by a season-high 44-point third quarter, the Denver Nuggets are now 5-0 and a third of the way done with their season-long, six-game road trip unscathed.
Denver started out this game in a lull offensively. I’m not sure if it was rough plane ride from Indianapolis or the first road set of back to back games, but a combination of poor shot selection, a lack of movement offensively (especially when the Nets confused Denver with a 2-3 zone), and lot of missed bunnies left the Nuggets frustrated as proven by Carmelo getting hit with his first technical foul of the season after a no-call on a fast break. Denver was also turning the ball over (6 TO’s in the quarter) and were lucky the Nets shot just 7-22 from the field to trail, 23-22, after one quarter in the IZOD Center. The only bright spot for the Nuggets was former Net, Kenyon Martin, scoring eleven first quarter points on an economical 4-6 from the field.
In the second quarter, the Nets jumped out to an early six-point lead before Denver went on a 10-2 scoring run led by Arron Afflalo scoring nine of the Nuggets’ first 17 points to regain control, 39-34, with five and have minutes remaining in the half. And you have to give a lot of credit to the Nugget reserves for supplying a new energy after the starters came out so sluggish. The trio of Afflalo, Ty Lawson (who made two three’s in the 2nd), and Chris Andersen combined to score 19 of Denver’s 28 points in the second quarter as ‘Melo finished the half 1-11 from the field with six points after missing a handful of lay-ups and Chauncey Billups was held scoreless on 0-5 from the field shooting in limited minutes after picking up his third foul.
I felt the Nuggets were settling for jump shots offensively in the half court set. They were obviously caught off guard when New Jersey went to a zone on defense stemming from not having a real post up center to facilitate any cutters to the rim or to relocate jump shooters for rhythm looks when the outside line of defense turned to support. As a result, the Nuggets were lucky to get 14 points in fast break offense and to be still down by one, 51-50, at the half. Offensively for the Nets, Chris Douglas-Roberts was torching the Nuggets on open looks from the perimeter to the tune of 17 points and five rebounds.
Whether or not George Karl blew his top at half or gently passed on decades of basketball wisdom, the Denver starters responded with a refurbished sense of energy defensively and Chauncey Billups igniting for a one-man 7-0 scoring run put Denver up by six in the first 1:13 of the second half. Denver then extended their lead to 18 points starting with a beautiful backdoor alley-oop from Kenyon Martin to Carmelo Anthony, ‘Melo blowing by Douglas-Roberts on the baseline for a Dr. J.-esque reverse, and a steal by Nene which ignited the fast break for Anthony to dime Anthony Carter for an easy deuce. Overall, the Nuggets outscored the Nets 33-14 in the first eight minutes of the second half by means of Carmelo Anthony’s eleven and Chauncey Billups’ twelve points, respectively, after both combined for a mere six points in the first half. And by the end of the third quarter, Denver’s starters combined for 40 points as the Nuggets scored a season-high 44 points in total and took a, 94-77, lead into the money period.
Denver started out this game in a lull offensively. I’m not sure if it was rough plane ride from Indianapolis or the first road set of back to back games, but a combination of poor shot selection, a lack of movement offensively (especially when the Nets confused Denver with a 2-3 zone), and lot of missed bunnies left the Nuggets frustrated as proven by Carmelo getting hit with his first technical foul of the season after a no-call on a fast break. Denver was also turning the ball over (6 TO’s in the quarter) and were lucky the Nets shot just 7-22 from the field to trail, 23-22, after one quarter in the IZOD Center. The only bright spot for the Nuggets was former Net, Kenyon Martin, scoring eleven first quarter points on an economical 4-6 from the field.
In the second quarter, the Nets jumped out to an early six-point lead before Denver went on a 10-2 scoring run led by Arron Afflalo scoring nine of the Nuggets’ first 17 points to regain control, 39-34, with five and have minutes remaining in the half. And you have to give a lot of credit to the Nugget reserves for supplying a new energy after the starters came out so sluggish. The trio of Afflalo, Ty Lawson (who made two three’s in the 2nd), and Chris Andersen combined to score 19 of Denver’s 28 points in the second quarter as ‘Melo finished the half 1-11 from the field with six points after missing a handful of lay-ups and Chauncey Billups was held scoreless on 0-5 from the field shooting in limited minutes after picking up his third foul.
I felt the Nuggets were settling for jump shots offensively in the half court set. They were obviously caught off guard when New Jersey went to a zone on defense stemming from not having a real post up center to facilitate any cutters to the rim or to relocate jump shooters for rhythm looks when the outside line of defense turned to support. As a result, the Nuggets were lucky to get 14 points in fast break offense and to be still down by one, 51-50, at the half. Offensively for the Nets, Chris Douglas-Roberts was torching the Nuggets on open looks from the perimeter to the tune of 17 points and five rebounds.
Whether or not George Karl blew his top at half or gently passed on decades of basketball wisdom, the Denver starters responded with a refurbished sense of energy defensively and Chauncey Billups igniting for a one-man 7-0 scoring run put Denver up by six in the first 1:13 of the second half. Denver then extended their lead to 18 points starting with a beautiful backdoor alley-oop from Kenyon Martin to Carmelo Anthony, ‘Melo blowing by Douglas-Roberts on the baseline for a Dr. J.-esque reverse, and a steal by Nene which ignited the fast break for Anthony to dime Anthony Carter for an easy deuce. Overall, the Nuggets outscored the Nets 33-14 in the first eight minutes of the second half by means of Carmelo Anthony’s eleven and Chauncey Billups’ twelve points, respectively, after both combined for a mere six points in the first half. And by the end of the third quarter, Denver’s starters combined for 40 points as the Nuggets scored a season-high 44 points in total and took a, 94-77, lead into the money period.
The Nuggets then added some emphasis to their domination, and perhaps dished out a little retribution for last season’s 44-point drumming, by opening up the fourth quarter on a 13-1 run and blowing any chance that New Jersey may have had to come back in this game. The Denver lead would balloon to as many as 29 points affording George Karl the luxury of resting his starters for a majority of the fourth quarter. And with starters on the bench, Ty Lawson took advantage of the extra playing time. The rookie finished tonight’s game with a career-high 23 points on 9-10 from the field, four rebounds, two assists, a steal, and just one turnover. Lawson displayed his great speed getting to the rim on the fast break, a nice mid-range jumper, and a perfect 3-3 from three-point land in 27 minutes of burn.
Denver finished with a total of six players in double figures with starters Carmelo Anthony scoring 22 points in an offensive struggle, Chauncey pouring in all twelve of his points in the third - including the first seven of the quarter, Kenyon Martin burning his old team for his first double-double of 18 points and ten boards, and Nene finishing with a tremendous all-around effort reading 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals. Arron Afflalo also chipped in 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals in another rock solid 31 minutes off the bench.
Once again, I want to emphasize how important it is that George Karl has been able to keep his starters’ minutes down so far on this road trip. Last night, only Nene played more than 35 minutes and tonight George was able to his keep his core to 32 minutes or less across the board with Chauncey playing only 25 minutes on that tender ankle.
Up next for the Nuggets lies more of a challenge in the upcoming back-to-back set with two playoff teams from the Eastern Conference, Miami and then Atlanta, starting Friday night in South Beach.
Denver finished with a total of six players in double figures with starters Carmelo Anthony scoring 22 points in an offensive struggle, Chauncey pouring in all twelve of his points in the third - including the first seven of the quarter, Kenyon Martin burning his old team for his first double-double of 18 points and ten boards, and Nene finishing with a tremendous all-around effort reading 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals. Arron Afflalo also chipped in 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals in another rock solid 31 minutes off the bench.
Once again, I want to emphasize how important it is that George Karl has been able to keep his starters’ minutes down so far on this road trip. Last night, only Nene played more than 35 minutes and tonight George was able to his keep his core to 32 minutes or less across the board with Chauncey playing only 25 minutes on that tender ankle.
Up next for the Nuggets lies more of a challenge in the upcoming back-to-back set with two playoff teams from the Eastern Conference, Miami and then Atlanta, starting Friday night in South Beach.
Go Nuggets!
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