| 17 December 2009
(Denver-CO) While not spectacular, I’ll take the last the two Nuggets wins over blowouts any day. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Thunder on Monday, 102-93, and the Rockets last night, 111-101, both in yeoman fashion to wrap up a three-game home stand 3-0 after dropping the final two previous games on the road trip which now seems like ancient history. Denver is now 19-7 overall and has won twelve of thirteen contests at home.
The Nuggets got out to their usual slow start offensively. Houston was able to build a, 19-11, lead with four minutes remaining in the first before Carmelo Anthony put the Nuggets on his back and brought them back into the game. Denver got a three-point play from Anthony after ‘Melo hit a pair of free-throws as the Nuggets went on an 11-0 run to finish the quarter leading by four, 25-21.
In the second quarter, Chauncey Billups took the reigns from Carmelo when the Rockets tied the game at 42 apiece. Mr. Big Shot scored ten of the next twelve points for Denver as the Nuggets built their largest lead of the half, 54-46, with under two minutes to play. With the two-headed attack of Billups (15 points and three assists) and Anthony (17 points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal) doing the majority of the damage for Denver. Houston was down by seven at halftime, but the Nuggets were about to lose Chauncey Billups to a groin injury suffered late in the second quarter. MRI results are pending, but the preliminary word is Chauncey will miss “a couple” games.
The Nuggets were obviously a little disheveled after Chauncey shut it down, but the worries of some quickly became opportunities for others. J.R. Smith in particular visibly raised the level of his game offensively by taking the ball to the rim with authority, Ty Lawson handled the lag in distribution by handing out a career-high six assists, and Anthony Carter made an impact with subtle veteran moxie.
Even still Houston tied it at 71 when Ariza converted a three-point play, but it would be the last time they would get that close to taking the lead from Denver. The Nuggets answered back with an 11-3 run capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony and Smith and the Nuggets took an, 85-78, lead into the fourth quarter.
Once in the final period, Denver grounded the Rockets by scoring 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter, and after J.R. Smith drained his second three-pointer to give the Nuggets a 16-point lead with four minutes remaining there was nothing left but stat time. Carmelo Anthony capped off his 17th 30+ point performance with six consecutive free-throws to finish with 38 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal, a block, and an amazing 19-20 from the free-throw line and is now 50-54 over his last five games from the charity stripe. His ability to accumulate points is mind-boggling and as long as he fills up the stat sheet like he did against the Rockets the Nuggets are going to be very good for as long as he's on the team.
Chris “Birdman” Andersen is deserving of a lot of credit on the defensive end. For the third straight game he has swooped double figure rebounds while being a real presence in the middle of the Nuggets. He has also been the Nuggets’ leading rebounded over the last three consecutive games while averaging better than two blocks per game over his last three games. His offensive counterpart from the bench, J.R. Smith, finished with 21 points, three assists, and two steals. I especially like how J.R. Smith is playing the passing lane when he is one pass off ball and the Nuggets double team. J.R. is wisely playing midway between two players and then jumping the passing lane when pressure is applied which is leading to a lot of turnovers for the opposition.
And speaking of turnovers…
For a team that prides itself on being so “fundamentally sound”, Rick Adelman’s club turned the ball over 21 times last night resulting in 20 points for the Nuggets who outscored the Rockets 52-36 in points in the paint. The Nuggets also did a superb job of taking care of the basketball turning it over just twelve times and with no player guilty of more than two miscues.
It will now be very interesting to see how the Nuggets react without Chauncey Billups in the line-up for “a couple” games. They hit the road over the weekend against two struggling teams in the New Orleans Hornets and the Memphis Grizzlies, but as we all know Denver’s Achilles heel has been overlooking teams with sub .500 records. In fact, five of Denver’s seven losses have come against teams with losing records.
So, will Karl start Anthony Carter for his veteran presence and knowledge of the team or will he start the younger, riskier J.R. Smith? Either way, one thing I think we can count on is Ty Lawson not getting much consideration for the starting nod. George Karl is too wise to put that kind of pressure on a rookie (even one of Lawson’s caliber and Tarheel pedigree). It also wouldn't be a bad idea for Arron Afflalo to break out of his mini-funk as of late. Afflalo has averaged three points, less than two rebounds, and not even an assist while shooting only 30% from the field over the last five games.
The Nuggets got out to their usual slow start offensively. Houston was able to build a, 19-11, lead with four minutes remaining in the first before Carmelo Anthony put the Nuggets on his back and brought them back into the game. Denver got a three-point play from Anthony after ‘Melo hit a pair of free-throws as the Nuggets went on an 11-0 run to finish the quarter leading by four, 25-21.
In the second quarter, Chauncey Billups took the reigns from Carmelo when the Rockets tied the game at 42 apiece. Mr. Big Shot scored ten of the next twelve points for Denver as the Nuggets built their largest lead of the half, 54-46, with under two minutes to play. With the two-headed attack of Billups (15 points and three assists) and Anthony (17 points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal) doing the majority of the damage for Denver. Houston was down by seven at halftime, but the Nuggets were about to lose Chauncey Billups to a groin injury suffered late in the second quarter. MRI results are pending, but the preliminary word is Chauncey will miss “a couple” games.
The Nuggets were obviously a little disheveled after Chauncey shut it down, but the worries of some quickly became opportunities for others. J.R. Smith in particular visibly raised the level of his game offensively by taking the ball to the rim with authority, Ty Lawson handled the lag in distribution by handing out a career-high six assists, and Anthony Carter made an impact with subtle veteran moxie.
Even still Houston tied it at 71 when Ariza converted a three-point play, but it would be the last time they would get that close to taking the lead from Denver. The Nuggets answered back with an 11-3 run capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony and Smith and the Nuggets took an, 85-78, lead into the fourth quarter.
Once in the final period, Denver grounded the Rockets by scoring 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter, and after J.R. Smith drained his second three-pointer to give the Nuggets a 16-point lead with four minutes remaining there was nothing left but stat time. Carmelo Anthony capped off his 17th 30+ point performance with six consecutive free-throws to finish with 38 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal, a block, and an amazing 19-20 from the free-throw line and is now 50-54 over his last five games from the charity stripe. His ability to accumulate points is mind-boggling and as long as he fills up the stat sheet like he did against the Rockets the Nuggets are going to be very good for as long as he's on the team.
Chris “Birdman” Andersen is deserving of a lot of credit on the defensive end. For the third straight game he has swooped double figure rebounds while being a real presence in the middle of the Nuggets. He has also been the Nuggets’ leading rebounded over the last three consecutive games while averaging better than two blocks per game over his last three games. His offensive counterpart from the bench, J.R. Smith, finished with 21 points, three assists, and two steals. I especially like how J.R. Smith is playing the passing lane when he is one pass off ball and the Nuggets double team. J.R. is wisely playing midway between two players and then jumping the passing lane when pressure is applied which is leading to a lot of turnovers for the opposition.
And speaking of turnovers…
For a team that prides itself on being so “fundamentally sound”, Rick Adelman’s club turned the ball over 21 times last night resulting in 20 points for the Nuggets who outscored the Rockets 52-36 in points in the paint. The Nuggets also did a superb job of taking care of the basketball turning it over just twelve times and with no player guilty of more than two miscues.
It will now be very interesting to see how the Nuggets react without Chauncey Billups in the line-up for “a couple” games. They hit the road over the weekend against two struggling teams in the New Orleans Hornets and the Memphis Grizzlies, but as we all know Denver’s Achilles heel has been overlooking teams with sub .500 records. In fact, five of Denver’s seven losses have come against teams with losing records.
So, will Karl start Anthony Carter for his veteran presence and knowledge of the team or will he start the younger, riskier J.R. Smith? Either way, one thing I think we can count on is Ty Lawson not getting much consideration for the starting nod. George Karl is too wise to put that kind of pressure on a rookie (even one of Lawson’s caliber and Tarheel pedigree). It also wouldn't be a bad idea for Arron Afflalo to break out of his mini-funk as of late. Afflalo has averaged three points, less than two rebounds, and not even an assist while shooting only 30% from the field over the last five games.
Go Nuggets!
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