| 27 November 2010
1st
- Ty Lawson started for the second straight game as Chauncey Billups was not in uniform with a sprained wrist. So too were the Bulls without their starting point guard due to Derek Rose missing his second game with a sore neck.
- The Nuggets opened up with an 11-0 start to the game. They did so with nothing more than solid defense and good sound offense. Basketball purist all over the Mile High City took a deep contented sigh.
- Nene looked fantastic from the opening tip. He was 5-5 from the field in the first six minutes of the first quarter as a result of taking the ball strong to the basket and establishing deep position early.
- Arron Afflalo hit his second three of the game to give Denver a 24-7 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first. His first came from the weak side corner on a great pass from Carmelo Anthony. The difference between Arron Afflalo and J.R. Smith was never more clear than on a similar occasion just moments later. “Triple A” was in the same corner as he had just drained a three in and was open again. Carmelo was late with the pass (and the pass took Arron out of his shooting pocket) and by the time Afflalo gathered the ball he was no longer open. So, instead of forcing the shot, a la J.R., Afflalo quickly entered the ball into Nene who had secured deep position and the Nuggets scored the easy basket. Once again, basketball purist all over the Mile High City took a deep contented sigh.
- The Birdman was soaring high with a pair of blocks. The second was from behind on the fast break. Tweet-tweet.
- The Nuggets scored just one point in the final 5:30 of the first quarter. They were 0-8 from the field during this stretch and on the short end of a 13-1 run by the Bulls.
2nd - 25-20 - Good Guys
- Nene continued to eat Joakim Noah alive on the offensive end. Big Brazil hit his first six shots of the game and was utilizing his left hand nicely around the basket. Nene also was superb defensively against Noah despite picking up his third foul (two out of the three were questionable…) with five minutes left in the half. Noah finished with a mere six points at the half.
- The Nuggets allow the Bulls just 18 points in the quarter and 38 for the half in what could have been their best collective defensive showing of the season so far. Granted, the Bulls couldn’t have thrown sand in the ocean (just 31% from the field) and even a sure Noah dunk was called off on a 24 second clock violation, but Denver didn’t allow a whole lot of easy offensive possessions and for that deserve due credit.
3rd - 48-38 - Good Guys
- Denver jumped right on Chicago to open up the second half by way of a 10-0 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Nuggets opened up a 19-point lead during this stretch.
- The Nuggets’ lead dipped down to single digits (nine) with under six minutes remaining before a timely three by Ty Lawson pushed Denver back up by a dozen. During this stretch I kept waiting for George Karl to call timeout and/or insert Al Harrington to change the chemistry offensively for the Nuggets who had otherwise looked shoddy after Nene picked up his fourth foul.
- Al Harrington tried to draw a charge on C.J. Watson and was called for a block that put Watson on the free-throw line. I personally thought he was set for the whistle to go Denver’s way, but the referee saw differently and Watson was awarded two free-throws. He hit both and the Bulls were suddenly down by just five, 64-59.
- Anthony Carter had no business trying to stop Joakim Noah from slamming home an alley-oop on the fast break. The ill-advised attempt not only gave Noah an and one, but sparked the already emotionally charged Chicago center at a very inopportune time of the game. The Bulls were on a run and Noah hit the free-throw to bring the Bulls within four, 66-62. I mean, did he really think he was going to block Noah’s dunk?
- Scott Hastings mentioned Carmelo Anthony is battling a stomach flu for the first time. ‘Melo scores the final four Denver points in the third quarter to keep Denver up by three, 76-73, after they had all but pissed away what was once a 19-point lead.
4th - 76-73 - Good Guys
- The game was tied by C.J. Watson at 82 with six and a half minutes to play in regulation. The Bulls took their first lead of the night, 85-82, on a three by Kyle Korver on their next possession. For those keeping track, that is a 22-point swing from when the Nuggets led by 19 points, 59-40.
- Denver regained the lead, 92-91, after Nene rejected the driving Noah and Carmelo laid in a pretty finger roll.
- I’m confident when I say Ty Lawson could run a sub 4.4 second forty yard dash. When he is in the open floor with the basketball it looks like my DVR is in fast forward. Lawson put the Nuggets up by three, 94-91, with under two and a half minutes to play when he burned sneaker rubber in transition for an easy lay-up.
- C.J. Watson put the Bulls back up by one, 95-94, with under a minute to play with a nice running floater under defensive duress of Ty Lawson and Nene. He again came through for Chicago on the next possession in similar fashion to give the Bulls a three-point lead, 97-94.
- John Lucas III is fouled with twelve seconds remaining and misses both free-throws to keep Denver alive despite being down by one, 97-96.
- Carmelo Anthony isolates on the right wing and takes a well defended attempt that misses, but is thankfully last touched by the Bulls. Thinking that Carmelo should defer to a teammate on this next possession… he bullishly (pun intended) takes the final shot again only this time draining the 18 footer and giving Denver the win, 98-97!
Nugget of Note: I was skeptical of Carmelo being able to dig down deep enough to hit a game winner tonight. He was sick, had played an inconsistent game all night, and his jumper had been off since the first quarter. However, to have the kind of guts to take the SECOND attempt at the game winning shot after all but getting the first rejected back into your face is the stuff that separates the true stars in this league from the “stat guys”. Carmelo Anthony is a true star in this league, Nuggets Nation. His stat line may not be what we all want it to be night-in and night-out, but make no mistake about the message in my last sentence.
Go Nuggets!
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