Denver wins battle of the offseason, rolls to 105-79 victory over defending champs
Melo tests Arron Afflalo at the onset of training camp - AP Photo
The coup de gras was the 5’ 11†Ty Lawson streaking through the paint to dunk over the outstretched arm of 7’ Lakers center DJ Mbenga. The Denver bench erupted, the fans exploded, Melo & Chauncey (already in warmups) looked to the Jumbotron for confirmation of the rookie point guard’s epic slam, and the book closed on this rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finalists.
The game may have actually ended sooner than that. It started to feel finished after Carmelo Anthony exploded out of the gate in the second half with a ten-point flurry. The Lakers’ hopes of a comeback surely faltered when Ron Artest was forced to the bench midway through the third quarter after logging his fifth foul in the midst of a desperate scramble to contain Melo. But my favorite moment came after several consecutive trips down the court for the offensively explosive Lakers failed to generate any points…
The Nuggets had played an attacking style of defense all night long. Despite suffering from a rebounding disadvantage, the Nuggets were winning every other battle. The Denver D created turnovers that led to fast-break points. They rotated their perimeter defenders fearlessly in the face of masterful LA ball movement. And more importantly than anything else, they contained Kobe Bryant, primarily thanks to the outstanding one-on-one defense of Arron Afflalo.
So when Afflalo found himself once again in isolation against Kobe at the three point line, the Nuggets pressing towards a 20-point advantage, we all knew what to expect. With 1:54 left in the third, Kobe Bryant reared back to knock down a typical no-chance three point shot. But Afflalo followed him like a shadow, their bodies inches apart but with no illegal contact, and with a hand firmly planted in front of his face Bryant missed badly.
The next (and last) time Bryant would touch the ball resulted in a Chauncey Billups steal and a J.R. (Earl?) Smith layup. The rout was on.
A battle that boasted a back-and-forth playoff atmosphere in the first half turned into a blowout in a single quarter. Artest, the Lakers’ prize offseason acquisition, could not handle Carmelo Anthony. Afflalo, the unheralded July pickup by the Nuggets, drove the lane often, drained a key three, and stymied Kobe through three brilliant quarters.
In times like these, it is important to remember that the mainstream media has no clue.
“The Nuggets navigated a perfect storm to reach the West Finals. Lightening in a bottle.â€
“Artest makes the Champion Lakers an even tougher contender in the West this seasonâ€
No, and no. The additions of Lawson and Afflalo made the Nuggets true contenders in ’09-’10. And time will show that the Lakers were better off with clutch playmaker Trevor Ariza than the thuggish Artest.
Look out West, Carmelo and the Nuggets just hit Prime Time.
