Nuggets Never Get Started, Deficit Too Deep

(FortCollins-CO) The Denver Nuggets hosted the Milwaukee Bucks and put out the good china, fine wine, and appetizers. Milwaukee played the roll of ungrateful guest perfectly by coming into the Pepsi Center and putting the Nuggets so far behind by halftime the game was virtually over. I hate having to write these kinds of recaps because there just wasn’t very much positive to focus on. The Nuggets lost 110-89.

The first half of the game was essentially a jailbreak for the Denver Nuggets on defense. The Nuggets were outscored 69-45 at intermission. They were out rebounded, hustled, and scored with ease by the Bucks. The consequences of the lackadaisical defense were three fold. With no identity on the defensive end the Nuggets never got any type of fast break going, were beat up on the offensive glass, and allowed easy ten to twelve foot jump shots for the first 24 minutes. It looked as if the Nuggets were expecting the likes of Michael Redd and rookie Andrew Bogut to shoot 25% collectively. Bogut would finish 8-10 and Redd 7-16 respectively, while the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks followed suit by all shooting a high percentage.

Consequentially for the Nuggets, with no fast break they struggled to get anything going consistently on the offensive end of the floor. The only Nugget to shoot 50% from the floor and score double digits was Marcus Camby. No Nugget snatched double digits in rebounds and Andre Miller had an uncharacteristic night turning the ball over five times while dishing eleven assists. Carmelo Anthony was held to 19 points; nearly seven below his season average and as a team the Nuggets were 1-11 from downtown. As for reasons why Denver was unable to right the ship; Defense creates offensive opportunities; Good offensive opportunities lead to easy scores; Scoring is contagious and all of this was illusive.

There is absolutely no reason to dwell on this game. If you’re George Karl you just have to tell your troops that sometimes this kind of thing happens and to forget about it. The NBA is not an exact science. Now it is more important to figure out a way to slay the looming giant in the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. If the Nugget’s track record is any indication they will bounce right back and rise to the challenge of one the league’s top teams (remember the win against the Mavericks?).

While I was disappointed in tonight’s overall picture, there were some positives that should be given praise. Rueben Patterson came off the bench and added eight points and two steals in 24 minutes. His teammate Reggie Evans grabbed eight boards in 16 minutes. Both men were effective in their debuts and were received with warmth by the home crowd. Resilience will be the key if the Nuggets want to beat Detroit. I know that the aforementioned is a tall order, but I have a hunch (albeit a small one) that we are going to be in for a thriller on Wednesday night. The Nuggets need to reset, regroup, and come out firing. Let’s go Denver, Let’s go!