| 01 March 2010
(Denver-CO) The Los Angeles Lakers may have been able to beat the Nuggets in the regular season for the first time yesterday, 95-89, in LA, but in my eyes Denver made a statement. The message was clear: We're in the hunt and just who is the hunter and who is the hunted is yet to be determined.
The Nuggets commanded this game for most of its duration before a terrible start to the third quarter erased a double-digit lead only to be rebuilt and lost again before losing in the final possessions (more on this later). Arron Afflalo was suffocating on Kobe Bryant. Kenyon Martin picked up right where he left off with a knee contusion and anchored the Nuggets front line. However, ultimately, Carmelo fouled out on a pair of questionable calls late in the fourth quarter after struggling with Ron Artest's physical brand of defense and the Nuggets were unable to convert possessions into points in the final three and half minutes without him.
What I loved about the first half of play was how the Nuggets were the aggressors both in the physicality of the game and on the offensive end of the floor. On the defensive end, the Nuggets forced L.A. to commit seven turnovers in the first quarter alone and twelve overall in the half. The defensive leader for Denver was Arron Afflalo, who took the challenge of guarding Kobe Bryant to heart, and kept Bryant to just two points in the first quarter. Afflalo did an excellent job fronting Bryant and keeping him from getting to the spots on the floor he wants to get to and when Kobe did get the ball Afflalo was physical and relentless. Kobe finished the half with four points on 1-5 from the field and four assists.
Offensively, the Nuggets jumped out to an early eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter after Chauncey Billups hit a technical free-throw and a three in the final 1:13. Kobe Bryant was hit with the technical after he let J.R. Smith, who was talking a little well-spirited trash before the game, get under his skin after Smith stole an errant pass by Lamar Odom. Denver then went on to extend their lead to 13 points, 40-27, with seven minutes remaining in the half after a combined seven straight points by Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo. Ty Lawson's speed proved once again to give L.A. fits in transition as he scored six points in five minutes in the first half, but he left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return in the second half.
Denver was able to build the aforementioned lead with defense and physical play. Offensively, this translated into Denver taking the ball to the rim and ending up shooting 23 free-throws in the first half (making 16). Nene was able to finish three, three-point plays and Ty Lawson pushing the action earned him two trips to the line for a perfect 4-4.
Up by by nine entering the second half is when disaster struck for the Nuggets. Denver missed its first seven field goal attempts in the third quarter and saw their lead carved down to one within the first four minutes. The Nuggets did show some resiliency in the form of a 10-0 run to once again take the lead by eleven, 64-53, with 5:22 remaining, but Denver didn't have any answer for Lamar Odom defensively late in the third as Mr. Khloe Kardashian scored five of L.A.'s final ten points in quarter to lead L.A. into the fourth down by three, 70-67.
Lamar Odom aside, I hated the Nuggets' shot selection in the third quarter. The passing stopped, as evident by Denver notching just five assists in the quarter, and the Nuggets were 7-19 from the field in the third. It cemented, in my mind at least, that this team is at its best when the ball is moving and the assists are piling up. They can win with 'Melo doing his one-man show. Chauncey and J.R. Smith can pull this routine on occasion too, but nothing compares to when this team plays as an unselfish unit.
How Denver finished three quarters of play up by three still on the defending champs after the kind of start they had to the second half was a testament to the level of defensive intensity that was sustained by Afflalo on Kobe and the rest of the Nuggets following suit. That being said, the Nuggets lost the lead quickly in the fourth quarter and fell behind by eight with six minutes in regulation. They once again showed some resiliency by tying the game at 89 with under four to play, but Carmelo fouling out on a very questionable offensive foul after he and Artest had done everything but Indian leg wrestle all game long and questionable shot selection left Denver scoreless for the duration and on the losing end in L.A, 95-89.
Could it have been a win for Denver with a few different shakes of the dice? Sure.
Did the Nuggets deserve such favor? No.
Am I anxiously anticipating this match-up come playoff time? You bet your sweet ass!
Go Nuggets!
| < Prev |
|---|
