(Denver-CO) We knew the Denver Nuggets’ eight-game win streak had to stop sometime. And when you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder schedule, you knew that with their list of impressive wins over other good teams that they were definitely capable of doing just that on their home floor. An ice storm gave them an extra home court advantage and the weather froze the Nuggets offensively as Denver lost, 101-84, while shooting just 40% from the field.

The Nuggets didn’t even know if this game was going to be played due to a pending ice storm jeopardized their ability to make it to OKC in time. Thankfully, they did, but Carmelo Anthony missed his third game and the Nuggets struggled offensively in his absence.

In the first quarter, the Nuggets looked strong offensively, but were horrendous on the defensive end. Lay-up after lay-up, Denver allowed the Thunder to eat them alive on the offensive glass and in points in the paint (something that would haunt the Nuggets all game). To their credit, the athleticism of the Thunder players Jeff Green and Thabo Sefolosha seem to catch the Nuggets off guard as they combined to scored six first quarter points, all at pointblank range. 

Kevin Durant is also pretty damn good for being 21 years old.

Durant proved too quick for Kenyon Martin and too long for Joey Graham, who started for the injured Anthony, as he scored 15 points in the first quarter and looked unstoppable.

Still though, Denver managed to score 26 points and trailed by just one heading into the second quarter before the wheels fell off. The Nuggets managed to momentarily take the lead with three minutes remaining in the second quarter before heading into the half down by six following a 19-point quarter disaster that included J.R. Smith chucking seven shots (to be fair, he did make three, three’s) as the Nuggets stood around and watched lethargically.

Things then officially bottomed out in the third quarter as Denver mustered just 15 points due to their field goal percentage plummeting and gave up 28 on the other end. The Nuggets managed to score the first five points of the quarter to bring the game margin back to within one, but then scored just two points over a five minute stretch while falling behind by nine and ending the final 3:19 scoreless to enter the fourth in a 19-point hole was about the time I checked out.

So did the Nuggets.

They didn’t put up much of a fight in the fourth and looked content to just get out of town and get Carmelo back in the line-up. The Nuggets failed to produce a 20-point scorer, but were led by Chauncey Billups’ 19 points and seven assists. Kenyon Martin flirted with a double-double, but fell short with a respectable line of 13 points and nine rebounds. J.R. Smith took ten three-point attempts, making five, and finished with 18 points and two steals.

The real story was Durant. The youngster became the youngest player to score 25+ points in 20 straight games (he has a league best 26, 30+ point games on the season) with a line that reads 30 points, four rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. He was good inside, outside, at the three-throw line, and turned the ball over just twice while providing the highlights.

The 17-point loss was the second largest this season for Denver who hopes to have Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s scoring leader, back today for their match-up with the Spurs on national television.

A new streak starts today.

Go Nuggets!

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment