| 23 November 2010
1st
- Ty Lawson got the start for the beat up Chauncey Billups. Billups sustained an injury to his wrist against the Nets amongst other injuries in a nasty fall that left him with stitches in the bridge of his nose and a chipped tooth.
- Chris “Birdman” Andersen made his season debut with six minutes left in the first quarter. Bird is sporting some new ink around his neck which states that he is indeed a, “Free Bird”.
- Denver allowed six offensive rebounds in the first quarter. Not a very good idea to give up a lot of second looks against a scoring team like Golden State
- J.R. Smith has made his way back into George Karl’s rotation. He had a nice stop-and-go move that freed up the Birdman for his first dunk of the season.
- Anthony Carter made his season debut as well tonight. <Insert crickets chirping.>
- The Nuggets lacked an overall sharpness to their demeanor in the first quarter. Being without Chauncey Billups certainly played a role in this feeling, but I can’t help but feel Carmelo didn’t seize the opportunity to step in as a more vocal leader for this team.
24-21 - Bad Guys
2nd
- Al Harrington introduced himself to his old team with a three to bring the Nuggets back to within one, 31-30, with under eight remaining in the half.
- Arron Afflalo hit his second three on the next possession to tie the game at 33.
- Al Harrington hit two more three-pointers in the quarter to put the Nuggets up by three, 45-42, with under three minutes to play in the half. He scored eleven points in the first half off the bench.
- Anthony Carter and Ty Lawson committed point guard sins when they picked up their dribble and threw a cross court pass that intersected the key. As a team, Denver turned the ball over ten times in the first half.
- Monta Ellis hit a buzzer beating 30 footer to end the half that put the Warriors up by one, 52-51.
52-51 - Bad Guys
3rd
- The pace quickened in the third quarter and Carmelo kept Denver one step ahead with his marvelous offensive display. ‘Melo had 17 in the first half and finished the third with 28 points.
- Birdman stole an errant pass with under a minute remaining in the third and ran the fast break himself. He soared from one branch to the other (ok, in all fairness he took off from a step in from the free-throw line) and finger rolled it in from high above the rim. On the ensuing possession, Andersen tossed up a lucky bucket facing the other way and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but gave the Nuggets a lot of momentum headed into the fourth with the lead, 79-71.
- Denver held the Warriors to just 19 points in the third quarter. It was the lowest quarterly total thus far into the season for Golden State.
79-71 - Good Guys
4th
- The Nuggets opened up an 11-point lead, 84-73, with ten minutes to play after Arron Afflalo hit his third trifecta.
- After opening the aforementioned lead everything went south offensively for Denver. The ball stopped moving, there was way too much dribbling, Anthony Carter took an ill-advised three from the corner, and the Warriors went on an 8-0 run in the next three minutes.
- Dan Gadzuric was a Nugget killer on the offensive boards during this stretch with two timely rebounds. It seemed like on every play he was attacking the offensive glass and creating second chance opportunities for himself and his teammates. At this point in the season, the Nuggets still do not have a legitimate rebounding presence on their front line. And by legitimate rebounding presence I mean a player 6’9” or taller who practices the art of boxing out on a regular basis.
- The Nuggets opened up a 12-point lead when Carmelo Anthony scored the hoop and the harm with under four minutes to play. ‘Melo finished with a new season-high of 39 points in total. He was from a perfect 17-17 from the free-throw line.
- Ty Lawson single-handedly broke the offensive funk for Denver with his penetration and passing. On numerous occasions, Lawson broke Stephen Curry’s ankles and blew past the help rotation to either point-blank lay-ups or drop offs to waiting teammates.
- The Nuggets would one up themselves defensively in the fourth quarter by holding the Warriors to just 18 points. Bravo. Had they only not allowed those 18 points to be scored in the first five minutes of the quarter my blood pressure wouldn’t have skyrocketed.
106-89 - Nuggets Win
Nugget of Note: I mentioned that there isn’t one individual rebounding presence so far this season for Denver, but against the Warriors it was by committee. Carmelo, Afflalo, and Nene each finished the night with nine rebounds and Al Harrington chipped in eight boards off the bench. The Nuggets were being out rebounded by the Warriors in the first half 24-23, but won the overall battle 47-38. A big reason for this was locking down the defensive glass in the second half. In the first half, Golden State cleared seven offensive rebounds. They finished with ten overall which means Denver did a good making the adjustment at intermission.
This was good win for Denver. The Nuggets have been struggling on the road and with the return of the Birdman, Carmelo’s high total for the season in points, and the rebounding by committee it’s at least something to build on.
Up next for the Nuggets is a little bit of rest and relaxation (thankfully) before taking on the Bulls Friday night. Enjoy your turkey, enjoy your gravy, but don’t forget to get ready for the Bulls.
Go Nuggets!
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