(Boulder-CO) Leaving the Pepsi Center and being greeted by bone-chilling temperatures never felt so good. The Nuggets made short, easy work of the Pacers 121-101, and would have only needed to score three points in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. All eleven Nuggets scored in the contest and as a team recorded more steals, assists, blocks, and shot a blistering 55% from behind the three-point arch.
The big story tonight was bench production. Denver’s reserves combined for a staggering 40 points and were led by Earl Boykins with 15 points and six assists. Earl has been struggling as of late, but tonight shot a perfect 2-2 from downtown and 5-10 overall. Yakhouba Diawara and Linas Kleiza both finished with nine points and combined to give the Nuggets four assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. DerMarr “Slim” Johnson, Reggie Evans, and Jamal Sampson rounded out the cast of characters when all was said and done.
Oh, and I almost forgot! There is this guy who wears number 15 that is just unstoppable. I think his name is Carmelo Anthony, you might have heard of him. Every time that Carmelo got the ball I was letting the poor Pacer defender know that he had no chance of guarding the ‘Melo one. Carmelo was the game’s high scorer with 38 points and was taken out of the game with about eight minutes remaining. No question he could of easily scored more, but why? The game was already out of hand and when I saw ‘Melo take off the headband I knew it was time to beat traffic.
A couple of other starters had great performances tonight in addition to the league’s leading scorer. J.R. Smith continues to blossom right before Denver‘s eyes despite it being frigid outside. Smith went 5-7 from long range and concluded the evening with 19 points, a steal, and two rebounds. Marcus Camby also continues to dominate in his line of work. Camby went for an almost routine double-double of ten points and 15 rebounds. He also wrecked five Pacer shots and pretty much locked down the paint for 33 minutes.
However, the most impressive stat of the night was the Nuggets only committing ten turnovers. Earl, Andre, and Carmelo (who leads the league in the uglies) all took care of the ball and as a team the Nuggets were only burned for nine points off miscues. It was nice to see the Nuggets actually take care of the ball for once and it obviously helped in the blowout.
The big story tonight was bench production. Denver’s reserves combined for a staggering 40 points and were led by Earl Boykins with 15 points and six assists. Earl has been struggling as of late, but tonight shot a perfect 2-2 from downtown and 5-10 overall. Yakhouba Diawara and Linas Kleiza both finished with nine points and combined to give the Nuggets four assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. DerMarr “Slim” Johnson, Reggie Evans, and Jamal Sampson rounded out the cast of characters when all was said and done.
Oh, and I almost forgot! There is this guy who wears number 15 that is just unstoppable. I think his name is Carmelo Anthony, you might have heard of him. Every time that Carmelo got the ball I was letting the poor Pacer defender know that he had no chance of guarding the ‘Melo one. Carmelo was the game’s high scorer with 38 points and was taken out of the game with about eight minutes remaining. No question he could of easily scored more, but why? The game was already out of hand and when I saw ‘Melo take off the headband I knew it was time to beat traffic.
A couple of other starters had great performances tonight in addition to the league’s leading scorer. J.R. Smith continues to blossom right before Denver‘s eyes despite it being frigid outside. Smith went 5-7 from long range and concluded the evening with 19 points, a steal, and two rebounds. Marcus Camby also continues to dominate in his line of work. Camby went for an almost routine double-double of ten points and 15 rebounds. He also wrecked five Pacer shots and pretty much locked down the paint for 33 minutes.
However, the most impressive stat of the night was the Nuggets only committing ten turnovers. Earl, Andre, and Carmelo (who leads the league in the uglies) all took care of the ball and as a team the Nuggets were only burned for nine points off miscues. It was nice to see the Nuggets actually take care of the ball for once and it obviously helped in the blowout.
On a side note, you will notice that the Nuggets were wearing a "new" alternate uniform tonight as part of their 40 years of basketball in Denver campaign. It is not a throwback (trust me, I did my homework), but I did kind of like it. Here is a great link to a site that chronicles the Nuggets and their wardrobe changes thoughout the years http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?t=229. My only question is when are the Nuggets going to drop the original Denver Rockets purple and yellow joints?
The Nuggets now have a much needed three days of rest after back-to-back victories. Denver is now 10-5 (5-3 at home) and will host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center. After Atlanta, ah wait a minute… Let’s just take things one game at a time.
The Nuggets now have a much needed three days of rest after back-to-back victories. Denver is now 10-5 (5-3 at home) and will host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at Pepsi Center. After Atlanta, ah wait a minute… Let’s just take things one game at a time.
1 comment:
Great point, fence. But what about if the youngster can get even better? Maybe not in points, but perhaps in assists or steals? I just think that the sky is the limit for young J.R. and I am so happy that he is here... Despite the jump ball!
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
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