(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)(Boulder-CO) Jim Jones could not have made a song more fitting of tonight’s, 122-100, Denver victory. The Nuggets were officially “Ballin’” all over LeBron and the Cavaliers as the Pepsi Center went absolutely bananas from opening tip to final buzzer. There was even a surprise Coolio, (that’s right I said Coolio), performance at halftime as if the Nuggets dominating all facets of the game wasn’t enough for 15 some odd thousand fans that were in attendance.
Now, I could go into all the x’s and o’s that made the Nuggets successful, but I’m in too good of a mood right now to bore you with all that. So, how about instead I take the professionalism down a notch and get right to the straight dope that was tonight’s game?
Is that alright with everyone? Good, great, grand, on we go!
Right off the bat, I have to mention J.R. Smith’s absolutely mind boggling performance. Early in the first half, J.R. caught an alley-oops upside your head pass from AI, (backwards mind you), and finished off the dish with an absolutely ridiculous slam that had me so pumped up I could have slapped your momma! I might also mention that the reason why J.R. was in that position was because he made a great defensive play and outlet pass to Iverson that got the whole thing started. But besides that one play, I have to admit that down the home stretch I was actually hoping that J.R. would get back in the game because he was just that damn exciting tonight. And luckily for me he did, and he did not disappoint. Plus, aside from scoring 29 points on 7-8 from the land of plenty, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing four assists, J.R. did the Cavaliers absolutely dirty when with only a minute left and the Nuggets up by twenty he drops not one, but two cold-blooded three-pointers to further work the home crowd into an even more rabid frenzy!
Next on the long list of Nuggets highlights is the performance of Allen Iverson. AI gave the young Daniel Gibson a text book lesson on how he got the nickname “The Answer” as he lit the second-year player up for a game-high 37 points, eight assists, and three rebounds. In addition to AI’s schooling of the young Daniel Gibson, Carmelo Anthony efficiently gave the business to Ira Newble, Larry Hughes (who, by the way, got ejected in the first quarter for saying something to an offical that I have to assume was absolutely putrid), and Dwayne Jones on his way to 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals. ‘Melo was hitting all kinds of fade-aways and was making the extra pass at every opportunity. For example, on one particular occasion he grabbed an offensive rebound, split the defenders, and dimed Kenyon Martin for a thunderous slam when he could have easily scored the deuce himself. I mention this only because it was a clear example of how Carmelo Anthony is visibly trying to make his teammates better; a trait that I’m not sure I could realistically say was part of his game in seasons previous.
From there you have to tip your hat to the Nuggets as a cohesive defensive unit. Denver held the Cavaliers to just 41% from the field while out rebounding, stealing, and swatting Cleveland all over the floor. And per usual, Marcus Camby led the defensive charge for the Nuggets. The Captian held Zydrunas Ilgauskas to a mere two points and six rebounds while grabbing 12 errant Cleveland shots and swatting another one for good measure in just 31 minutes of action.
Plus, as I mentioned before, there was a surprise Coolio performance at halftime where the ex-star belted out all three of his biggest hits. “Get Your Woman on the Floor”, “Fantastic Voyage”, and “Gangsta’s Paradise” were so random that they just made my night. Not to mention the cornrow mohawk was priceless!
Up next for the Nuggets are the Trailblazers on Wednesday night. The Mile High crew now stands at 5-3 and more excited about Nuggets basketball I can not recall myself being. Get at me in the comments section if you have anything else to add.
Go Nuggets!
8 comments:
Haha, sorry about that comment on the last post -- I was all hyped up just getting home from the game. That reverse alley-oop was the sickest dunk I've seen at Pepsi Center in a long time. Just filthy.
I hope that George keeps playing JR when the other guards get healthy. I'm sure he won't be the primary ballhandler as he was for most of tonight, but he better get his 20 minutes at least, because he's been playing heady basketball. And yeah, he's absolutely the best for getting the crowd hyped up -- nothing like a game at the Pepsi Center when JR is on fire. I'm all hoarse.
Great performance overall by our boys. I didn't miss Nene at all -- we played that zone (with Yak/Jones glued to LeBron) and didn't allow them to get into the paint much at all until it was garbage time. The Cavs offense isn't exactly a well-oiled machine (especially with Pavlovic and Marshall out), but we showed some stuff on defense tonight for sure.
I hope we can continue to win at home also -- that was really the chink in our armor last year. If we can win 80% of our home games and keep our good road record, we'll be in greast shape for playoff seeding.
AI was super efficient tonight, as was JR. Very, very impressive all-around. Melo hardly played in the 4th and still managed 22 -- 7 boards in the first? That was pretty random.. haha, but he again made some great dimes. When we're playing unselfish like this, we're really hard to beat. Having that third scorer is essential when we go against the elite teams, so I hope JR keeps getting burn (Kleiza too) so he can keep his confidence up, because that's when he's at his best.
Stumble,
Why are you apologizing? Get buck wild! The Nuggets would want you to.
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
It's exciting to note that the Nuggs are playing well without their annointed point guards. I look forward to the day they have most of their guns in playing form. And remember...if Von could have scored...
Also, I was across the street at the local sports bar before the game and our waitress mentioned someone famous was in the place...and there, sitting not far from me, was the one and only Nugg Doctor...???? Very impressive!!
btalk,
Why didn't we do a shot? All work and no play makes for a very dull Nugg Doctor!
Next time, don't be so shy.
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
I thought "get your woman on the floor" was part of the Fantastic Voyage song.
Yo brah, I'll forgive you for the bad rap song reference, but you're on point with all else.
JR was playing with confidence, and I think out of any Nug, he needs to. That's why I question Karl's downright nasty public comments about him sometimes. One.
I'm afraid not, mister. "1,2,3,4 (sumpin' new)" is a totally different song from "Fantastic Voyage". However, they do almost have identical beats!
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
I was referring to Jim Jones and "We Fly High" ... Wack.
Coolio actually put out some good ish pre-Fantastic Voyage. Peep his stuff with WC and The Maad Circle on "Aint A Damn Thing Changed." That's a classic West Coast album. Most of "It Takes A Thief" was pretty hot, songs like "County Line" and "I Remember" were fire.
After the success of Fantastic Voyage, Coolio went for the cash and put out garbage like Gangsta's Paradise, which now poulates used CD bins everywhere. I can't blame him, he got paid...and now he's squeezed between hula-hooping dogs and Rocky jumping over kids.
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