Tuesday, March 25, 2008

J.R. Smith is Officially on FI-YAH

(Boulder-CO) First off, if you haven’t checked out Stumbleweed’s link concerning just how hot J.R. Smith has been in the last few weeks I highly suggest you do. With that being said, the Nuggets came out in the first half of last night’s game exactly how I didn’t want them to. Denver lost the first half, 57-51, by playing like the fat, alcoholic, barbiturate abusing Elvis Presley before the swivel returned back to their hips by way of a, 69-49, second half to defeat the Grizzlies for the third time this season, 120-106.

I didn’t like anything about the first half. So, because Denver has weathered the storm of this five-game Eastern Conference road trip by concluding 3-2 we just aren’t going to talk about it. Imagine all of my typical rants, but dismiss them because Denver is now only half a game behind the Golden State Warriors (thanks, Kobe!) for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference and only a game and a half behind the Mavericks, who unfortunately, are now without Dirk Nowitzki for what looks like the remainder of the regular season.

The Nuggets in the second half were a completely different story. I especially liked the defensive turn around the Nuggets displayed, but in the end J.R. Smith stole the show.

Allen Iverson scored his 26 points and ‘Melo chipped in 23, but J.R. Smith’s 25 points in the fourth quarter and 27 points overall were spectacular. “The Prodigy” was even hitting three’s from a couple of steps behind the arch, without conscious, finishing with seven bombs in the quarter!

Marcus Camby’s defensive effort was just as instrumental in this win as J.R. Smith’s take over. Camby anchored the D with seven blocks and 14 of his 15 rebounds coming on the defensive end. Kenyon Martin’s play also remains solid. K-Mart finished last night’s game with a double-double of 14 points and ten rebounds off an efficient 7-8 from the field while also swatting two shots.

Denver is right back into the thick of this playoff chase and nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, would make me happier than to look like the fool if the Nuggets can slide into the eighth, or even (gasp) the seventh seed! Denver’s best opportunity to do so is in the next five days as their next game is against the Dirk-less Mavericks at home on Thursday night (I’ll be at the game if anyone wants to grab a beer at halftime). Then the Nuggets will potentially have a chance to move right into that seventh spot when the Golden State Warriors come to town in the first of two remaining match-ups.

Go Nuggets!

5 comments:

ThaAnswer said...

Whooo it is fun to watch JR when he is lighting it up. Stone cold killer. That's the kind of shooting that can help you win tough a playoff series.

All the panicking out there was unnecessary, although we're not a lock by any means. I still think we'll finish 7th and have a winable first round series against the Rockets or Hornets.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see us matched up against the Suns. We've played the really well the last few times. The Hornets, not so much... just because of CP3 and their collection of our shooters (and our tendency to leave shooters open deep). I'd be scared of the Lakers as well since we're missing Nene and don't have the size to stand up to them with Bynum and Gasol. Rockets are less talented than we are and seem ti have worn themselves out with that run, but we can't match up with T-Mac at all (who can?) and Battier always kills us (for the same reason the Hornets kill us).

But yeah, I'm very excited for the Playoffs again after being somewhat pessimistic the last few weeks. We have some tough games down the stretch, but so do Dallas and GSW (their schedules are both tougher overall, especially minus Dirk) -- I like our chances of sneaking into the 7th seed. All playoff series are winnable with AI and Melo (and JR!) in the fold, so it's just a matter of getting there and hope we play like we're capable of playing in the Playoffs.

Raf said...

wohoooo!

Nice to see Nuggets winning again!

ThaAnswer said...

Random.

Poll on ESPN.com, who do you want to miss the playoffs out West? I voted (obviously) Dallas. Here was the nationwide results. People like the Nuggets (or we're just damn fun to watch)

Mavs 36%
Nuggets 13%
Spurs 24%
Suns 14%
Warriors 12%

Raf said...

lol definitely the second one!

anyhow, Nuggets need to show their talent in every game! Dont u think they can win over any team?